Never Let Me Go
by brandy01
Summary: After the defeat of the Dark Lord, Hermione and Harry are left bereft from the loss of both Ron and Ginny Weasley. With having to return to Hogwarts, how with the pair learn to cope with their losses?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

The Hogwarts Express pulled into the Hogsmeade Station for the first time in the new age. The Wizarding world had achieved a certain amount of peace with no serious clouds of fear hanging over the formerly oppressed people. The Dark Lord been defeated, but at a great price. A raven- haired boy got off the train and stood on the platform; but this time, there was no great scar marring his forehead. He still wore glasses, and was still tall and a little lanky, but he wore no smile.

A tall brunette with long cinnamon curls pulled back in a neat braid followed shortly after him. On the front of her robes, the Head Girl badge was secured proudly, shining against the black of her school robes. She looked older than she had before the summer, and was taller, and far thinner. The war had taxed her dearly, but in the end, she had played a major role in the defeat of the Dark Lord.

'Harry, are you sure this is not too much for you?' she asked, voice filled with gentle, sisterly concern.

'Yeah, I'm sure. I need to do this because they can't,' Harry replied.

He was, of course, referring to the loss of his best male friend, Ronald Weasley, and his girlfriend, Ginny. The war had been very hard, and very unforgiving, and the loss of the two youngest Weasley's was just two among many on the side of light. Hermione understood his pain, for she too had lost two best friends. The difference was, she could handle it, and Harry struggled with that.

'Look Harry, I'll see you later. I have to go and make sure the first years get to Hagrid with Malfoy, okay?' Hermione informed.

'Right, but don't let that git of a Head Boy walk all over you,' he said with a wink.

Hermione snorted softly at that comment. 'Malfoy, walk all over me? I'd like to see him try…'

'Go on 'Mione,' he prompted.

Hermione smiled and hugged him, kissing him on the cheek swiftly before clearing a path for herself through the crowds to the jumpy-looking first years. She reached them and found that Malfoy was already nearby, smirking and looking at her in a superior fashion, crossing his arms in satisfaction.

'What did you say to them, Malfoy?' she hissed into his ear sharply. 'They looked positively frightened.'

'Nothing Granger,' he lied.

'Oh I'm sure,' she replied with a scoff. 'Anything that has anything to do with you could never be "nothing"'

'For someone who is supposedly accepting, you do a terrible job at actually proving it,' he retorted unpleasantly.

'I'll have you know…' she began hotly.

'FIRS' YEARS!' a loud voice boomed over the noise of the crowd on the railway platform. 'FIRS' YEARS COME WITH ME!'

Hermione turned around and saw Hagrid, and then ran to him, and immediately threw herself into a tight embrace with the half-giant. 'Oh, Hagrid it's so good to see you!' she exclaimed.

'Aye, 'Mione. It good ter see ye again,' he agreed warmly.

'How have you been?' she inquired thoughtfully. 'I haven't seen since the ummm… you know.'

He nodded. 'I'm well. I visited me brother and me Olympe over the rest o' the summer, an' visited Charlie Weasley an' his dragons.'

'That sounds lovely.'

'Aye,' he agreed fervently. 'Now what's this I heard about ye bein' eighteen an' all? I thought ye were 'Arry's age,' he asked curiously.

'I used a time turner for two years, and I'm a little scared to admit that I'll be nineteen next year, while everyone else turns only eighteen,' she replied.

'Right, well I'd better get this lot to the lake. I'll send an owl fer ye and Harry to come for tea some time.'

'Alright, see you later Hagrid.'

Hermione watched as the giant led the timid first years towards the path that wound to the lake. She waited until they were out of sight, before turning just in time to see Malfoy climb into a carriage, and close the door. It took off without her, and when she looked around, she saw that it was the last of them. Fuming, Hermione began the long walk from the station to Hogwarts, in the rain no less, for in autumn that was all it seemed to do in Scotland.

When her robes became too wet and heavy to wear without slowing her down, she removed it, glad that she was wearing her jumper and that her white shirt would not be visible when it became see-through underneath it, and carried it over her arm. She pulled her wand out, deciding that it would be better if she had easy access to it, just in case. Malfoy was going to pay for this.

Once she reached the gates, she found them closed and locked already, and annoyingly enough, she had absolutely no idea what the passwords were to unlock it. Groaning, she pointed her wand in the general direction of the castle and muttered a quiet, '_Expecto Patronum_,' conjuring her Patronus. She watched as the graceful Black Panther emerged from her wand tip as opposed to the otter she once had. It had transformed sometime during the war from the adorable aquatic mammal, to the somewhat more elegant and mature-looking feline.

'Please send word to Professor Dumbledore that there was some – I was detained and that I need his assistance at the gates,' she instructed the cat urgently.

The panther mewled and bounded through the gates and off towards the castle that had served as her school for the past six years. Sighing in resignation, Hermione summoned a large rock from the side of the road to where she stood, and sat down on it with a huff. She waited for what seemed like hours until she saw the lantern, followed by the form of a carriage and the black Thestral that she could actually see.

It stopped by the gate and the door opened, and a long, black-clad leg emerged shortly after, followed by the second one, and finally, the black robes to complete the image of her rescuer. Of all people that could have been sent to fetch her, Severus Snape, surly Potions Master, Head of Slytherin House, and hater of all things Gryffindor had to be the one to save her from catching her death in the rain.

'Good evening, Professor,' she said as evenly as she could through chattering teeth, returning the rock to where it belonged with a flick of her wand as he tapped the chain and locks on the gate with his wand, murmuring and incantation under his breath in that silky, plumy voice of his.

He merely raised an eyebrow in response and opened to let her in before locking it all up again. 'Pray tell, exactly what were you doing, Miss Granger?' he drawled.

Hermione scowled at his tone and pulled on her soaked robes, crossing her arms in a defensive gesture. 'I hardly think that you'll even believe me, Sir,' she replied coolly, but honestly.

He sneered at her tone. 'Get in the carriage girl,' he spat.

Hermione did as she was told and sat down performing a drying and warming charm on her as she did, and getting as far away from the door and Snape as she could. Snape followed her in shortly after and closed the door to the carriage which took off with a sudden jerk. They sat in total silence for a while, until Snape's next words broke it.

'Give me one good reason for why I should not deduct House points or have you expelled for this Miss Granger,' he demanded.

'Malfoy intentionally left in the last student carriage without me while I was assisting Hagrid with the first years,' she replied simply, knowing that it was all in vain anyway. 'I was only doing my duty, sir.'

'Enough,' Snape said, holding up a hand to silence her. She was right; it wasn't her fault. 'I will see to it that Mr. Malfoy is punished appropriately for his deeds.'

Hermione gawked and stared at Snape, astonished at what he had just said. She wasn't being punished? Malfoy – Draco Malfoy, Slytherin Prince Malfoy was getting a punishment? That was positively unheard of.

'Th- Thank you sir,' she stammered.

He merely grunted a response and they didn't talk for the remainder of the trip. When they stopped at the castle, Snape got out first, and to Hermione's surprise, he actually held out a hand to help her from the carriage. Curiosity made her accept his help, and she managed to climb out without injuring either of them in the process, which was another positive.

'Your Patronus has changed form, Miss Granger,' he commented as the made the ascension up the stairs.

'You saw it – sir?' she asked, tacking a proper address on the end so not to sound impertinent.

'I received your message first. I didn't think that we should deprive the students of Professor Dumbledore's famous beginning of year inspirational nonsense,' he said sarcastically, making Hermione need to fight a grin. 'I was impressed with your Patronus. A panther is a very majestic creature.'

'His name is Lysander,' she commented idly. 'Shall I go see the Headmaster to explain my lateness?'

Snape shook his head upon reaching the doors to the Great Hall. 'I shall explain and discuss with the Professors to determine what Mr. Malfoy's punishment shall be,' he said dismissively. 'Join your house Miss Granger.'

'I shall. Thank you sir,' she said.

'Good evening,' he said, and with that, they entered the Great Hall, parting ways immediately, Hermione joining Harry and Neville at the Gryffindor table, while Snape took his seat next to the Headmaster at the Head Table.

'Severus, would you care to explain?' Albus prompted quietly.

'Mr. Malfoy found it necessary to play a prank on Miss Granger. I simply retrieved her from the gate,' he replied, watching as Hermione spoke a few words to her friends.

'Why that horrid boy,' Minerva exclaimed from the other side of Dumbledore. 'I told you that he would that he would be trouble. He's not fit to be Head Boy.'

'Calm down Minerva,' Snape said quietly. 'I fully intend to punish him for his wrong doings, if that was your concern.'

Albus sighed deeply, looking between the two of them arguing like students. 'I may have been too hasty in electing Mr. Malfoy for the position, but I truly believed that he would improve and become more responsible and less prejudiced in time with this position,' he admitted.

'Albus reconsider,' Minerva prodded bossily. 'Like father, like son. Terry Boot would have been an excellent Head Boy, or even Justin Flinch-Fletchly. Either would have done in a pinch. I would have chosen even Blaise Zabini over Malfoy.'

'I would have to agree with Minerva, although I hardly think that angering Lucius would be a suggestion at this time,' Snape said to Minerva's surprise. 'I would never have chosen Draco to begin with. His prejudices and immaturity outweigh his so-called intelligence.'

'What?'

'Suspend him from all Hogsmeade trips until the end of Term and see if that improves his behavior. If not, then suspend his Head Boy position and give it to another,' Snape replied carefully. 'That can be his punishment, although I do not suggest you allow him to get too close to Miss Granger. He is known to lash out and seek revenge.'

'You're being serious,' Minerva said with more than a little shock edging her voice.

Snape nodded. He knew that after the war, he would be free to treat all of his students as equals. He had never been allowed that luxury before, and he certainly wasn't going to let the brat son of Lucius Malfoy get away with murder. He had never liked the snotty little blonde boy. 'Of course I am serious woman. When have I ever not been?' he said curtly to her.

'But he's a Malfoy…'

'… That needs to learn some discipline like any other wizard,' he interrupted. 'Contrary to popular opinion Minerva, I do not like the Malfoy's, both senior and junior night I add. Honestly Minerva. You're not terribly perceptive.'

'Then it is settled,' Albus said before Minerva could respond. 'I shall talk to Mr. Malfoy and discuss his punishment with him after dinner.'

'Lucius will not be happy,' Minerva commented tartly.

'When is Lucius ever happy?' Snape asked dryly, spearing a piece of broccoli lazily with his fork and examining it warily. '_Perhaps when he is in London cheating on his wife with loose women_,' his mind offered reasonably which Snape had no objections to.

'Will you send young Draco in to me Severus?' Albus asked as he began his own meal with a hesitant expression.

'You can rely on it Albus,' he replied, allowing his gaze to drift over to the Gryffindor table, where Hermione Granger was sitting and staring miserably at her food in the same fashion that Potter was. The loss of the two youngest Weasley's had been far worse than anyone could have imagined. Potter would not be a trouble maker, and Granger would cease to ask bothersome questions and spout text books like a know-it-all.

But that in itself was a problem. He had already gotten used to that behavior. And now he would have to adjust to their depressiveness. The joys of being a teacher…


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

The class chattered quietly amongst themselves as they awaited the arrival of their Professor. The classroom door opened then with a resounding bang, and Professor Snape strode in, every bit as menacingly as he had before the Final Battle. He made the purposeful trip to the front and stood by the desk, before pointing at the board and flicking his wand, which caused the board to fill with notes in his neat, spidery hand-writing.

'The notes for your lesson are on the board. Copy them before you open to your text books to page 354, where you shall find the instructions for a Modified Memory Potion. You may begin when ready,' he instructed bluntly.

He sat in the chair behind his desk and took up his quill to begin making plans for his next lot of Double Potions with his third year Ravenclaw-Hufflepuff class. He looked up and saw his seventh years all writing diligently, hardly making a sound other than the scratch of quill against parchment. He looked to the Slytherin cluster and spied Draco Malfoy with a seemingly permanent scowl plastered to his face. It had been almost a week since they had returned, and the boy was still sour after having his Hogsmeade trips suspended.

Snape knew very well that Lucius was disappointed. He had received several letters, followed with a bribe, and finally a howler with some very colorful language used as well as a threat or two. He smirked, and continued to look around the classroom, when his eyes met a pair of inquisitive, but warm, cinnamon eyes framed by attractively long lashes.

'Miss Granger,' he said in a quietly menacing tone. 'Are you ready to begin your practical work?'

She averted her eyes and nodded, leaving her bench that she shared with Potter and Seamus Finnegan. He watched as she collected her cauldron and ingredients from the corner of his eyes, following her movements with an impassive expression. She worked meticulously, he would credit her that.

Fifteen minted passed, and the room was filled with steaming cauldrons, and Snape decided that it was about time to do his rounds of the classroom to make sure that there would be no explosions. He walked the Slytherin benches first, stopping to look into their cauldrons, most of the time coming away fairly disappointed. After passing the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw groups, he deduced that his Slytherin's seemed to pay the least attention in class.

He stopped at the bench at the very back of the room, where Hermione had moved in order to work alone. When he looked, he knew that he needn't have bothered. Herm potions were always beyond perfection. She was brilliant at Potions, he had always known that. He had never been able to express it before though. It was the exact shade and consistency for the stage she was currently completing.

'Well done, Miss Granger,' he whispered low so that only she could hear him. He wasn't going to destroy his reputation all in one go.

She looked over her shoulder at him, surprise clear in her eyes and on her face. 'Thank you, sir,' she replied just as quietly with a small smile.

He nodded and moved on to Harry, who was working slowly with Seamus, but at least they were doing the right thing. Snape could see the relief that crossed Hermione's face when she realized that he wasn't going to insult or degrade Harry's efforts. Was she afraid that he would hurl horrid words at the already fragile boy? He scowled in irritation, but had to admire her for being concerned for her friend that way. Loyalty was a rare thing to come across lately.

Keeping his "forked tongue" securely behind his teeth, Snape moved on to examine the last bench where Terry Boot and Susan Bones were working in quiet harmony. Who would have thought that two individuals from different Houses could work together so well? He grunted to indicate that their work was satisfactory, before going back to his desk.

By this point, he realized that the lesson would be almost over, and he checked his pocket watch just to make sure. He saw that it was very nearly lunch break.

'Alright pack up everything, clean and bottle a sample of your Potion if you have completed it. If not, put a stasis charm on your Potion and set it aside on the shelves to continue with next lesson,' he said quietly. 'Your homework will be to study the notes you copied today. I will be testing you on them next lesson also.'

With that being said, he watched as his students packed and tidied efficiently, with Hermione being the only student to produce a sealed flask of her days work, before she left with her bagful of books slung over one shoulder. He locked and warded the classroom on the way out, and joined the staff table for lunch through the teacher's entry and took his seat beside Albus.

'How are you today, my boy?' Albus asked cheerfully.

'Tolerably well,' Snape replied emotionlessly. 'But I suppose you already knew the answer to that.'

Dumbledore chuckled. 'I always know how you feel. I only ask in the hopes that I am wrong one day and you will say that you are happy and could never be better.'

'You will have to wait a lifetime for that day, Albus,' he replied seriously, before actually attempting to stomach a sandwich, while looking out across the student body warily as he always did.

'You worry too much, Severus,' Albus said.

'He's right you know,' Minerva intoned as she walked past the two and took her seat on the other side of Albus. 'You need to start living Severus.'

'I have lived that many different lives in my lifetime that I hardly think that I could live another life,' he reasoned carefully, trying to make sure that there were no flaws in his argument. 'I've lived as a child and teenager, a Death Eater, a spy and a Professor. What more is expected of me?'

'Those were all things that helped shaped who you are, dear boy,' Albus rationalized gently. 'You have a chance to live now as you would have had you not made the decisions that you did. You have a clean slate.'

Snape frowned at his plate. 'If only, Albus. If only,' he muttered, before rising from his seat and leaving the hall in a flurry of black robes.

Only one of the students noticed him leave the hall so suddenly, but she was too afraid to even think why. Hermione had been strangely drawn to staring at the staff table lately, and had always seen Snape seated quite contently with Dumbledore on one side, McGonagall not too far away, and the friendly and kind Professor Flitwick on what would be his right-hand side.

Hermione supposed his was lucky to have such fine company, yet he always seemed to be unhappy or just plain sour up there. He didn't seem to have any problems with the people he was with; it was simply a matter of being displeased with something else, or perhaps him. Was her Potions Master perhaps a little depressed? What was he like when he wasn't putting on the façade of being a surly and brooding Professor?

She remembered back to just before lunch, when he had complimented her work. That had been too surreal even for her. Since when did Snape give equal treatment to any of his students, even quietly? She shook her head and concentrated on finishing the rest of her salad sandwich.

'Hermione, did Snape seem, well – less like Snape to you today?' Harry asked curiously as he examined a piece of corned meat.

'A little, although I can hardly complain. He seems to be more docile now that the war has ended,' she replied, keeping most of her speculations to herself. 'I think he has become fairer to all of the students – like he hasn't been playing favorites with his Slytherin's lately.'

'Yeah, I heard he suspended Malfoy from going to Hogsmeade this term for something,' Neville commented. 'Apparently Dean overheard him lecturing and growling at Malfoy about a week ago.'

'Is that so…' Hermione said under her breath.

'Do you know something about it 'Mione?' Harry asked curiously.

Hermione shook her head and simply smiled. 'I haven't got a clue. Whatever it is, I'm not complaining. His much more bearable when he's not jumping down our throats, don't you think?' she replied.

'Agreed,' Harry seconded.

Hermione finished off her lunch pretty quickly after that, and decided to go to the Library to get out a few books for the Arithmancy extra credit project that she had decided to take on despite her already full work load. She guessed she just needed the distraction of the work to keep her mind off of more sullen and undesirable topics, such as death, and loss and love. Now those were some things that she most definitely wouldn't find in an Arithmancy text book.

She walked in and greeted Madam Pince with a warm smile, and headed straight to the restricted section. Being Head Girl came with a fair few advantages. She had unlimited access to the restricted section. She got her own single dorm and common room in Phoenix tower, which was just near Gryffindor tower except smaller. And she was able to go to Hogsmeade on any weekend.

Actually, she had planned to go their on Saturday, which was only two days away. Sighing, she forced her mind back onto the task of finding what she was looking for. She imagined that it wouldn't hurt for her to do some extra research on Potions as well, because she could use that as part of the practical testing phase of her Arithmetical equation she was working on.

She put her wand away so that she would not be tempted to use magic on the texts, partially because they were old, and partially because magic damaged some of the books in this section, which was why they were there in the first place. She collected two Arithmancy texts, before going to the Potions section, and searching the rows, until she found the perfect book.

The only problem was that it was on the shelf just out of her reach, and that was saying something because she was fairly tall for a girl. There was no ladder in sight, and she cursed, wondering whatever had happened to it. Until she felt a presence behind her, and then saw the pale, long-fingered hand pluck it easily from the shelf, before coming to offer it to her.

'Thank you,' Hermione said, turning around to look at Professor Snape. Would he ever stop surprising her?

He nodded sharply in response and continued on his way down the rows, apparently searching for something. Hermione lifted all of her books into her arms, and decidedly left without another word. Snape watched her leave from the corner of his eye, wondering what she would be needing with such an advanced Potions text book. He had a feeling that he would find out soon in any case.

He found what he was looking for, and went to Irma Pince, borrowing it, and going on his way, with the small potions journal clutched in his hand. He passed by Potter and Longbottom on the way to his Dungeon discussing between themselves the possibilities of '…where Hermione could be?' with no luck. Honestly, they could be blithering idiots sometimes.

'If you are searching for Miss Granger, I do believe that the Library might be the place to begin,' he said crisply.

'Is she in there – sir?' Harry asked, remembering his manners at the last second.

'I do believe I recall seeing her, or perhaps it was just a trick of the light. I don't suppose you'll know until you actually go in there,' he replied snidely, relishing that he could still reduce Potter to a bumbling fool while Longbottom cowered behind him.

Smugly, he continued on his way, leaving a very confused Neville and Harry to stare in his wake like a couple of reprimanded school boys. They seemed to snap out of it after a while, and walked into the Library together, still too confused for words.

'What do you suppose all that was about?' Harry asked Neville, still scratching his head and trying to think.

'I don't know mate, but I think we're going to have to expect more now,' Neville replied with a slack expression.

'Yeah,' Harry said dreamily, as they walked along the rows, but could not find Hermione. She wasn't even in the restricted section.

They gave up, and decided to go to Gryffindor tower for the rest of lunch, and maybe stop by Phoenix tower to check if Hermione was there or not. They found her common room empty, and left, to play a game of wizard's chess while they had nothing better to do with their time. Eventually, it was time for class, so they gathered their books together and went off to see if they could arrive to Charms on time.

When they got there, Hermione was already waiting in line, with her heavy book bag still hanging on one shoulder.

'Hey, 'Mione, where were you at lunch?' Harry asked, standing to wait with her, and was joined shortly after by Neville and Seamus.

'I was borrowing books, and then I had a meeting with Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall about some Head Duties that I have to attend to over the weekend,' she replied with a small smile. 'Sorry if I worried you.'

'Nah, it's right. We were just bored and wondered where you were,' Harry said giving her a hug when she scowled playfully.

'But you know Professor Snape actually talked to us in the hallway for no reason,' Neville exclaimed. 'He knew more about where you were than we did. It was sort of scary, really.'

'He's always like that you ninny,' she teased.

'No, but he was all like, "if you don't know where she is then look" and he seemed to be sort of joking and being sarcastic, but not in a mean way. He was really odd,' Neville explained, trying to make his point.

Hermione nodded and looked up to see that tiny Professor Flitwick was waiting for them to be quiet so that he could invite them into the classroom. She was actually considering extra credit for Charms too, but would have preferred to do extra credit for Potions instead. She actually meant to talk to Snape about it, and would get around to it, but she wanted to keep her options open.

'Alright, class, come in and take your seats,' Flitwick squeaked.

Hermione followed hr classmates in and sat down to get ready to absorb the lesson. Ever the constant student…


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Cold, listless eyes glared at a spot on the carpet where there was a blood stain from what might have been a couple of months, or maybe a few years. In any case, it was of no concern for the time being, and could be concentrated on when all the blood that needed to be spilled was. Muggle blood in particular. Those piercingly disturbing grey eyes flickered over to the bed, where a woman with long blonde hair was sleeping, and her boney figure quite obvious.

He had always hated women that were all skin and bones, but he had married her when she was young, thin, but voluptuous, with plenty of curves and a nice arse to grab onto when he wanted to. But she had reduced herself down to nearly nothing. He doubted that she would ever fatten up. This was why he spent every Thursday evening in London, with Julia or Kristen, and why he had slept with her sister, Bellatrix.

Bella had always had ample curves for him to grab onto. Some would call it perverted, but he had expectations and needs to be met. But Bella was dead now, and he couldn't get away with always going off to London near the end of the week for a fuck with the whores in Knockturn Alley.

Lucius knew that Narcissa probably already knew that he had lost interest in him, and he had even watched in a few times when she had attempted to throw herself at Severus Snape. Needless to say, Snape had not been interested in another man's sloppy seconds. He gave the ruddy bastard that much credit – at least he had better taste than his scrawny, desperate wife.

But Snape had gone too far this time. Draco had been punished for treating a Mudblood girl the way that a Mudblood deserved – like dirt. He had threatened him, and he fully intended to come through with at least one of them – soon enough.

'Lucius, come back to bed!' Narcissa called from the bed waspishly.

'Fuck off woman. I'll come when I'm ready,' he growled from his chair near the fire hotly, looking over at the woman lying nude in their bed. He was getting desperate, and would have to settle for a fuck with his wife for tonight.

'Fine!' she shouted.

He smirked at that. He knew exactly what buttons to press. When he eventually got around to going to her, she would resist him, and that would just make it all the more fun for him. It reminded him of the old days with Riddle. That monster was cruel, but he sure knew how to live it up.

Lucius finished off his drink and threw his glass into the fire, listening to the satisfying sound of the glass shattering against the wall. He stalked around to the bed and removed his robes and the rest of his clothes, before slipping in under the sheets and immediately grabbing his wife to him.

'Struggle and this will be painful for you,' he hissed, delighting in the shiver he felt run down her spine. Yes – he still had the gift.

'No!' she screamed, sitting up in bed, panting and sweating, looking around the room frantically as if she could feel someone there.

When Hermione saw that there was no-one in her room as far as she could tell, she relaxed a little and slumped backwards to lie still on her bed. She took a few deep breaths and drew the covers up around her neck. That had been a terrible dream, or nightmare. At this point she could tell which it was. All she remembered was that the man in her dream had said such cruel things to her, in a voice that was vaguely familiar, as he tore her clothing from her and held a knife to her throat to silence her as she screamed. It had been terrible.

Decidedly, she threw off her covers, knowing that it would simply be too hard to get back to sleep until she had calmed down some, and exited her bedroom into the common room and found a cozy spot in one of her arm chairs. She pulled a fur blanket up over her legs and picked up the book on her coffee table. She flicked through the pages for a while, until she finally felt drowsy and fell asleep again on the chair, resting her head on the arm and curling into a ball.

When she next woke, there was a little sunlight peeking from the horizon, promising a clear, but chilly day for Hogwarts in autumn. Hermione got up from the armchair and stretched out her aching limbs from her sleeping position, before going to the bedroom and pulling out a pair of shorts, a cotton t-shirt and a light jacket. She decided to go for and early morning jog. When she glanced at her watch, she saw that it was only five-thirty. It was Saturday so it was unlikely that she would run into anyone.

She shoved her wand up her sleeve and left Phoenix tower, going straight down the numerous staircases and then out the Great Oak front doors, before stretching near the steps and taking off at an easy pace at first. She had been an athlete in her Muggle Primary school, and had made it to finals quite regularly, but since Hogwarts was certainly no Muggle school, there were no athletic trials other than Quidditch, which she certainly wasn't a proficient at.

But she had managed to keep a schedule to stay fit and went for a run every morning when she didn't need to do some last minute study. That was one of the reasons she remained agile and thin enough to keep alive in the final battle. Besides, she had always had the long, toned legs of a runner, and she planned to stay trim and toned for as long as she could.

She ran a lap of the lake, and stopped by a cluster of rocks to rest and conjured a bottle of fresh drinking water for herself, drinking, before spraying some water over her hair and face, moistening her lips that had gone slightly dry. The water cascaded down her neck and dampened her clothes, and she realized that it actually felt quite refreshing, and perhaps a little dip wouldn't hurt after her run. She quickly stripped off her jacket, shoes and socks, and dived into the deep water in her t-shirt and running shorts, and went for short laps in the chilly water.

When she was satisfied that her body was cool enough, she got out of the water and a slight rush of cold air met her, making her shiver. She grabbed up her wand from the pile of her belongings and cast a drying charm, and pulled on her jacket quickly, aware that the cold was making her nipples stand out a little more than obviously - one of the more annoying parts of being a female.

She entered the castle and headed up the main staircase, and had almost reached the top when she ran into someone without watching seriously where she was headed, and emitted a soft sound as the breath left her lungs, and a hand snatched immediately at her elbow, digging into it just a little too hard. She expected fall backwards and tumbled down the staircase, but luckily she had been rescued from a very painful fall by – Severus Snape?

'Miss Granger, are you alright?' he asked shortly as he helped straighten her out on the stairs with the hand on her elbow, before he released her completely.

'Yes, thank you sir,' she stammered. 'I'm sorry, I wasn't watching, and I honestly didn't expect to see anyone up so early…'

He simply nodded and brushed past her without another word, which confused her immensely. A few time in the last two weeks, it had almost felt to her as if Snape was actually concerned at what would happen to her, and had paid her compliments, if in his own round-about way. But then other times he was the same snarky man that that had taught her for six years, with his indifference, his somewhat hurtful and scathing remarks and his cold demeanor. He was such a puzzle.

Hermione honestly only just wanted him to make up his mind and be kind or at least reasonable, or just hate and ignore her. But he continued to play these games. Then again, it was what he was best at doing. It had been harder to ignore him during the last week, for every time he checked her Potions during class, he would nod and congratulate her on her efforts a little, which she was sure he did at great cost to his pride. He always whispered or said it quietly though, as if actually acknowledging that she was good at the subject openly would be scandalous.

But was that really what she was to him; a scandal and someone that should be ignored just because of her Muggle heritage? Was that how everyone saw her? Was she just some girl that seemed smart but was merely a walking text book? She could certainly say that in honesty, it wasn't true. She had experience outside of books – more than half of the adult Witches and Wizards already out of school she would wager. But she was only a girl in their eyes – not someone to take seriously.

Perhaps people thought she was like that just because she had never had a serious relationship before. There had been that whirlwind romance with Victor Krum in her fourth year, but that easily passed of as just a little fling. There had been an experimental fumbling with Ron to determine whether they were well suited or not. Needless to say, she had already concluded beforehand, they did not match romantically. Luckily too, for she was sure that his death would have affected her more if she had been attached to him like that.

Sighing, she went back to her rooms and jumped straight into the shower and scrubbed her body and hair clean from any of the lake water, leaving her smelling faintly of vanilla and spicy like cinnamon – a perfect contrast of sweet and sharp. She dried herself with a charm and loosely tied her hair in a chignon and pulled on jeans, a comfy t-shirt and a dark green, round necked sweater. When she was satisfied, she left for the Great Hall to have breakfast before she went to Hogsmeade for the day.

'Morning 'Mione,' Neville welcomed her with a yawn.

'Good morning. What's got you so tired?' she asked with a smile as she began to spread raspberry jam on her piece of toast, pouring a cup of coffee with a muttered incantation.

It was then that she realized something was not quite right. She looked down and saw that there was a butter knife in one hand, and absolutely nothing in the other one. She felt around with that hand and found that her wand was tucked securely in her pocket, before she looked up at Neville's shocked face.

'Hermione… did – did you just… did you take your wand out?' he stammered, looking between her empty hand and the coffee pot that was levitated.

Hermione squeaked, hardly believing it herself and looking to where the pot poured the hot, dark liquid into her cup. 'Neville, I just did wandless magic…'

'Yes, you did. We have to tell McGonagall,' he said, moving to get up.

'No, Neville don't,' Hermione said quickly, tugging him back down to sit. 'Don't tell anyone about this for now.'

'Why not?' he asked.

'Because I – I can't really explain, but I think it would be better if we didn't tell anyone for the time being,' she answered, looking him in the eye seriously.

Neville nodded understandingly, and grabbed the handle of the coffee pot and made it look as though he was pouring her the coffee. He put the pot back on the table, just as Harry arrived and sat down sleepily at the table. He grunted a hello, and Hermione slowed down her eating so that she could finish when Harry did to tell him what had happened.

When all three of them had finished breakfast, Hermione and Neville pulled Harry into the trophy room, which was conveniently empty.

'Right, now what's this you wanted to tell me?' Harry asked, apparently more awake now that he had eaten something and had a goblet of cold pumpkin juice.

Hermione smiled, and held out a hand and thought a summoning spell, and soon a trophy that did not have a case, flew straight into her hands. She looked over at Harry who was gawking with eyes wide and mouth hanging open unattractively.

'Bloody Hell,' he said under his breath. 'Blimey Hermione, when did you learn to do that?'

'This morning, by accident though. I was sitting at the table thinking how great it would be if I could pour my coffee and butter my toast at the same time, and then it happened,' she explained.

'You haven't told anyone else have you?' Harry asked.

'Of course not, and I don't intend to so don't even suggest it, Harry,' she said immediately. 'This is not something I want anyone but you two to know for now, okay?'

'Okay,' Harry and Neville replied in unison.

Hermione breathed a sigh of relief and straightened out a bit. 'Right, well I have to get to Hogsmeade this morning to get a few things in the village and just get away from the castle for a bit. Is there anything in particular that you wanted while I am there?' she asked, seeing their eyes light up.

'Some chocolate would be great, I've run out,' Harry replied with a grin.

'Okay, I think I could manage that for you,' she replied, enveloping the two boys in a tight hug, and a kiss to their cheeks.

She left them in the trophy room after returning the trophy she had summoned to its rightful place on the stand in the middle and began her way down to Hogsmeade. She walked the whole way at a leisurely pace, and bypassing most of the shops, she went to the bookshop to collect her lay-by order, and went to Madam Malkin's Hogsmeade branch to buy a new set of dress robes.

'Good morning dear, how can I help you?' asked a friendly, middle-aged witch from behind the counter.

'I need a new set of dress robes, something with two layers and in cream,' Hermione said with a smile. 'I think I'd like it made in faerie silk though, if its not too much trouble.'

'Not a problem, just wait in that chair dear and we'll get your measurements and see what style looks nice on you,' she replied.

A while later she stood near a mirror in the most exquisite dress robes she had ever seen, with two different layers, the inside with cream-colored silk, and the outside made of a supple, and thicker silk, colored a dark wine, with sleeves reaching to her elbows and falling to about mid-calf, shorter than the inside layer, and holding together at the front with a silver rose clasp.

Hermione felt good for the first time in a long time…


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

The temperature began to drop sharply during the couple of days before Halloween. Some of the students had been suspicious that it was because of some dark force linked to the Wizarding holiday, but most just knew that it was because winter was only a few weeks away, and that the day was merely a sacred recognition of a past celebratory ritual performed on the same date every year. Honestly, it was hard to believe how such ridiculous rumors were even circulated at all. Some of the younger students were too gullible to believe the stories told by the troublesome third and fourth years.

As like every other Halloween, Snape had planned to remain in his chambers, or perhaps lock himself in the Library away from the inane celebrations and the ball in the Great Hall. And as with every other year, Snape had been bugged by Albus Dumbledore to "not be such a spoil sport" and to join with the festivities. He sneered at the thought and shook his head. There was no way he was going to some ridiculous charade where all that he would achieve was high intoxication.

He'd rather get pissed in his own room where it would at least be quiet, and wake up without a hang over, thank you very much. Pinching the bridge of his nose, he then released a heavy breath and looked up at the clock on the mantelpiece of his fireplace. It was nearly four in the morning, which meant that if he went to sleep then, he would get in roughly two hours before he would have to rise for breakfast. He would need to take a sleeping potion though, otherwise he would never sleep.

Snape got out of his chair, went to his bedroom and lay down beneath the covers, before drinking the vial of potion on his nightstand and closing his eyes. He fell into a fitful sleep, only to wake two hours later at five minutes to six. He showered, dressed in his normal teaching attire and when he was satisfied that he was looking his intimidating best, he left his chambers to do the morning patrol of the Dungeons and first two floors of the castle.

'Snape, turn around,' a soft, purring voice said as soon as he appeared in the hallway.

'What are you doing here at this hour Lucius?' he demanded, spinning around to face the arrogant blonde properly.

'Why, I came to visit you, old friend,' Lucius replied smoothly.

'I am hardly that old if you are five years my senior,' Snape replied coolly, brushing past him gracefully and heading towards the stairs to the first floor.

'I'd watch my back if I were you, traitor,' Lucius warned him threateningly.

Snape ignored him and walked on. Whatever Lucius Malfoy wanted here, he would have to do so alone. The threats had not bothered him yet, and would continue not to. There was little to nothing that either of the Malfoy's could get away with in the castle, less so the Senior Malfoy.

He secured the Dungeons further as he left however, not trusting Lucius still. Once he had checked over and secured the first and second floors however, he headed straight for Albus Dumbledore's office. 'Chocolate Frog,' he muttered to the stone gargoyle guarding the entry. He stepped onto the revolving staircase and went straight in once he had reached the top of the stairs, only to find the Headmaster stroking the feathers of his Phoenix companion.

'Albus, I hate to interrupt, but I have a matter of importance to discuss with you,' Snape said curtly.

'Yes, have a seat dear boy,' Dumbledore instructed kindly.

Snape sat in the chair and turned to face the Headmaster. 'As I am sure that you are already aware, Lucius Malfoy is in the castle,' he stated drolly.

Albus nodded.

'Well, don't you have anything to say about it? The Halloween ball that the staff have been planning for weeks is this evening and we can not having his messing it up,' he reasoned irritably.

'Never fear, Severus. I have taken care of it, and have invited Lucius to join us at the staff table for the duration. He will leave directly afterwards,' Dumbledore replied.

'Make sure you keep him away from the senior girls,' Snape added with a sigh.

'And why would that be?'

'Oh don't be so naïve Albus. You and I both know that he is a lecherous, cheating grub of a man with very few if any scruples and who would take advantage of anything with breasts and an arse to grab onto,' Snape snapped. 'And don't you worry, he will be trying, very hard I imagine.'

'I see your point,' Dumbledore conceded with a frown. 'I shall see to it that all of the professor's on patrol are aware of the situation.'

'Thank you Albus.'

'No, thank you my boy for reminding me. It had totally slipped my mind until you mentioned it,' he replied with a courteous smile.

'I will leave you to think,' Severus said clearly, before rising and moving to the door to leave.

'Until breakfast then?' Albus asked.

'Yes.'

The library was empty, although that could only be expected, seeing as everyone else in the castle was more than likely, getting ready for the Halloween ball. Silently, Snape perused the shelves for some light reading material, and then had second thoughts, and decided that he would do some research for his latest project instead. His cure for Lycanthrope had not made any further progress since the return of the students to Hogwarts almost two months before.

'Severus, are you going to be staying here for much longer?' asked the Librarian crisply from her seat.

'Yes I will, I hope that wont be too much trouble. You should leave to get ready for the feast. I will not be going,' he replied.

'Honestly Severus, you might want to consider coming to one of the feasts this year. It really is not so bad at all,' Irma Pince scolded as if he were a student still, just while she readied to leave for the night.

'I thank you for your advice, however, it was unnecessary,' he began simply. 'I shall lock up when I am finished here.'

'Alright, goodnight then,' she said, leaving.

Snape found a table near the back of the Library, right next to the restricted section, should he find the need to look through any of the books there. With that done, he left the library and warded it so that none of the books could be removed from the room, and didn't bother locking it. He returned to the dungeons, collected his Potion journals from his room and took them with him to the kitchen where he stopped to have a quick dinner, and then left once more for the library.

When he passed the Great Hall, it was about half past eight and the dancing and frivolity had well and truly begun. Sneering, Snape retreated and returned to the Library, removing the wards and entered without locking it once more. He went to his table and began to sit down until he heard a whimper followed by harsh whispering from the restricted section.

He walked around the shelves slowly and quietly, trying to listen in.

'Tell me you want it, little Mudblood,' hissed a male voice.

'Never!' spat a female voice back.

Snape rounded the shelf, but kept himself out of sight, just in time to see Lucius Malfoy slam the Head Girl against the book shelf roughly by the shoulder. 'Say it!' he demanded quietly.

'No,' she hissed back through clenched teeth before she spat at his feet. 'Go to hell!'

'Now why would I do that?' he asked before slapping her across the cheek and pressing his lower body into her body, trapping her against the case.

That was about all Snape could take. Stepping out from behind the shelf, he pointed his wand directly at Lucius. '_Expelliarmus_,' he said darkly.

Malfoy was blasted back and out of the way, and Snape jerked his head at Hermione to indicate that she should move. Slowly, she backed away, and hid behind him, clutching onto his free arm to his immense surprise.

'Are you injured?' he asked.

'No,' she said faintly. 'Thank you.'

'Go back to the Great Hall and tell the Headmaster what has happened,' Snape said, momentarily eyeing her in the flattering black dress robes that she wore, with her chocolate and cinnamon curls pinned loosely at the nape of her neck. She looked beautiful – no – he could not allow himself to think like that.

'Yes sir,' she said, letting go of his arm and walking away from the Library as fast as she could.

Snape turned back to the fallen Malfoy, who was struggling then to regain his lost footing. 'What the hell do you think you were doing Lucius?' he demanded hotly. 'I thought that you might have had better sense than to attack the students, and least of all, the Head Girl, who just happens to be one of the most prominent figures in the Wizarding world, much less this school. You can't just attack the fucking students!'

'What do you care traitor? You hate children.'

'I don't hate children you fool. What I hate, are self-centered idiots who think that they have a right to walk about as if the own everything their filthy feet touch,' Snape spat with a glare. 'Idiots like your own son!'

'You dare to insult my own flesh and blood?'

'I don't dare to insult anyone. I merely convey facts. And I can now truly see what Minerva meant when she said "like father, like son"!' he replied snidely. 'Get out of this castle, and don't you dare set foot in here again. And take your lousy son with you if you like.'

Lucius glared at him momentarily, before tossing his long blonde hair out of his face and sweeping majestically towards the exit of the Library, brushing past Snape as he went. The taller, raven-haired man himself, stared after Lucius, and then followed him to ensure that there weren't any detours made.

The blonde stormed through the Great Oak front doors without a backwards glance as Snape watched him menacingly from the top of the staircase, before going straight to the Great Hall. He headed straight for the Headmaster, who had a look of grave concern on his face, and was sitting right next to a very nervous Hermione, who was looking around and biting her bottom lip.

'Severus, where is Lucius?' Albus demanded.

'I told him to leave, and followed to make sure that he did and that there were no – detours.'

'This will have to be reported to the Ministry tomorrow morning,' Albus muttered under his breath, before turning and looking at Hermione. 'I trust that there are no outstanding injuries?'

'Only a couple of bruises, sir,' she said, putting on a brave face, but Snape could see right through the put-on smile, and could see the worry in her eyes.

'Remind me again, just how did he manage to get you alone in the Library?' Snape asked, crossing his arms and taking a seat.

Hermione took a deep breath and closed her eyes. 'Well, I had been planning to leave halfway through the ball, anyway, because I was tired. I told Harry and Neville I was leaving, and then when I passed the Library, it was open, so I went in to do some light reading,' she explained, blushing slightly. Severus thought it was rather attractive on her – but no thinking like that! 'He just came out of nowhere, and grabbed me…'

'It's alright, Miss Granger. You do not have to continue,' Snape said, sensing that she was on the verge of tears, and he really would rather not to see her cry.

She nodded and cleared her throat. 'I'm dreadfully sorry for causing so many problems, Professors' she said, looking down at the hands clasped in her lap.

'Do not think on it, Miss Granger. Lucius Malfoy is a terrible man and a scoundrel to boot,' Albus said with a small half-smile.

'If you would like, I will escort you up to your room. You've had a trying night,' Snape offered, earning him a small nod from the Headmaster.

'Thank you, Professor. I would really appreciate that,' she replied gratefully.

'Very well, goodnight to you both,' said the Headmaster, as Hermione nodded, and Snape stood, offering a hand to help her up.

'Goodnight, Professor Dumbledore,' Hermione replied, accepting a small hug from the older wizard.

'Until tomorrow, Albus,' Severus replied.

And with that, Snape and Hermione left the hall and walked in silence until the reached the painting that stood in front of the entry to Phoenix tower. Hermione uttered the password softly, and turned back to Snape.

'Thank you again, for everything Professor,' she said softly.

Snape took a tiny bottle from his robes and pressed it into Hermione hand. 'It will get rid of any bruises or marks,' he said simply. 'Good evening Miss Granger. Rest well.'

And with that, he turned on his heel and strode off down the dimly lit hallway and when he turned the corner, he was out of sight.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

It had been six days since Halloween, and the Ministry of Magic had accepted and processed the complaint about Lucius Malfoy that Dumbledore had filed, and they had charged and found him guilty on two counts of abuse. He had gotten off easy, with only one of his many estates suspended from him. All of the information had been kept from the papers and nobody apart from a few Ministry officials, Dumbledore, Snape, and Hermione and of course Lucius himself knew anything on it.

Narcissa had been spared the news, as Snape had discussed with Albus prior to Malfoy's trial that the Middle-aged woman was already bordering on suicidal as it was, and this would have totally shattered her. Hermione, had thankfully been spared the shame and effort of having to testify against Malfoy, and Severus Snape had gladly given it in her stead. Actually, Hermione had been rather surprised at his readiness to help put Malfoy in his place.

She had always assumed that the two men were chummy because of the way he had treated Draco better than any of the other students in their earlier years at Hogwarts. But as with most assumptions, she had been wrong.

Lately, it had only been a momentous occasion when Snape would even so much as smirk or even sneer at anyone. After the war, in fact, it felt as though his sneers, smirks and snarky comments lacked the venom that they had once had. Sure, he was still unpleasant at times, but he often seemed docile at times and totally without his dangerous edge.

Not that Hermione was complaining in the least. More often than not in the years past, she had been on the receiving end of those horrid, scathing remarks, and it was a little bit of a relief to finally receive recognition and compliments. He was different now that he didn't have two masters to serve. Nobody else seemed to have noticed these small changes, but to Hermione, they were as plain as day. She supposed that he needed to remain as intimidating as ever to control his classroom.

It was then that she heard the knocking on the wooden panel that she had installed into the wall next to the painting guarding the entry to her domain to prevent people from ruining the painting. She left the comfort and security of her chair and book, and went to the portrait, pushing it open to immediately admit who she assumed would be Harry or Neville. Only, it wasn't them, but shockingly, Luna Lovegood on the other side.

'Hi Hermione, can we talk?' asked the once rather dotty girl.

Hermione stood aside and let her through, watching as the shorter, pretty, blonde-haired girl sat. 'Okay, so what did you want to talk about?' Hermione asked as she shut the entry and returned to her seat.

'I think I like Harry, but I know for sure that he will never like me back, especially after Ginny and what happened between them,' she said all in a rush.

Hermione smiled. She had been wondering why the girl before her and Harry had been exchanging small smiles and glances from across the Great Hall. It hadn't been obvious, but she was pretty sure that Harry might have a little thing for Luna as well, but she would have to see about that later.

'And so what makes you think that?' Hermione asked calmly.

'He's just so…nice, and well I spent most of the Halloween Ball dancing with him once you left. He made me feel like I was the only girl in the room,' Luna replied with a glazed look in her clear blue eyes. 'He just kept asking me to dance, but probably only because I was the only other girl he was friends with there.'

'That's really lovely Luna,' she replied with a grin. 'But if you ask me, I think you might not be the only one of you two interested. I know Harry, you should go for it.'

'Oh, 'Mione, I just don't know, what with everything he's been through… He'd hardly be interested in Loony Luna,' the blonde replied ruefully.

'Harry has been learning to cope with his losses, and I think he's finally starting to move on. It's been hard for him, and for you,' Hermione reasoned. 'You lost your father too, and you've done really well, and while I'm sure Ginny will always hold a special place, I'm absolutely positive that he has room inside for someone like you.'

Luna smiled wistfully. 'I certainly hope so…'

Harry stuffed his hands into his pockets and kicked a stone in the general direction of the Lake as he walked alongside Neville. He stopped, picked up a smooth pebble and tossed it across the lake, watching as it skipped lightly across the water. He scratched the back of his head and kept walking along until he came to the edge of the lake nearest Hagrid's cottage, before turning around and walking back the way they came.

'Are you alright Harry?' Neville asked. 'You look depressed.'

'I'm not depressed,' Harry insisted with a shrug. 'I'm just thinking about things.'

'Like what? And don't you tell me that you're worried about school. You never let that bother you,' the slightly shorter boy said with a sheepish grin.

'About some advice that Hermione gave me a few days ago, because it makes more sense to me now,' he replied with a heavy sigh. 'She said that no matter what, I will always love Ginny and Ron, but that it's time to move on and live, because they wouldn't have wanted me to dwell in the past and be miserable for the rest of my life. Their sacrifice would have been for nothing then.'

'Clever girl, that Hermione,' Neville said quietly.

'She always has been,' Harry said looking out at the lake. 'Now tell me, what do you think of Luna?'

'She's great Harry, and if you like her, I say go for it,' he replied without even asking why Harry mentioned her.

'Am I that transparent?' the dark-haired boy asked.

'The way you've been looking at her, and the way you asked her to dance at the Halloween ball made it obvious to me, and maybe Hermione even. There's no questioning it – your hooked mate.'

'Say I do decide to make a go of it, I should try and take it slowly right?' Harry asked, feeling ridiculous for asking Neville for advice on his love life, as he tossed another pebbled across the water.

'Yes.'

'I should tell Hermione this some time soon,' he commented offhandedly.

'You should, and here's your chance,' Neville replied, as he waved at the approaching Hermione from over Harry's shoulder.

Harry spun around and saw Hermione standing just behind him with a huge smile plastered to her face. 'What's got you so happy?' he asked.

'Nothing important,' she replied sweetly.

'Hey Hermione, Harry's got something to tell you!' Neville said before the other boy could stop him.

'Wait to play it subtly Neville,' Harry whispered.

'Go on,' Neville urged, nudging Harry towards the now curious Hermione.

Harry rolled his eyes and faced his remaining best friend with a sheepish grin. 'I like Luna, and I plan to ask her with me to Hogsmeade this weekend,' he said in a bored voice, shooting a look at Neville. 'Do you think she'll say yes if I ask her?'

'Did she say yes when you asked her to dance with you all night of the ball?' Hermione asked mischievously.

Harry blushed and looked at the ground. 'She did.'

'Then she will probably say yes if you ask her to go with you to Hogsmeade,' Hermione concluded with a triumphant grin. 'And you'd better not waste any time on it. The trip is tomorrow and you'll need to check if she doesn't already have plans.'

'If she has plans I could go with you lot,' he replied meekly.

'Ask her, I'm sure she'll be thrilled.'

Harry nodded and grabbed Hermione in a tight hug. 'Okay I will, but later perhaps,' he said. 'Right now, we'd better get back up to the castle. We still have double Potions today yet, and I don't want Snape to give me detention so I can't go tomorrow.'

All three of them laughed and linking arms, they made their way back to the castle and went their separate ways to collect their bags, bid Neville goodbye, before Harry and Hermione raced down to the Dungeons. They arrived late, but if Snape noticed, he certainly didn't say anything. Hermione and Harry both began taking the notes from the board quickly before he joined Seamus with his Potion, and Hermione prepared to work on the back bench. About halfway through class, she saw Snape leave the front desk, and tacked his progress across the room.

It was while he was walking amongst the desks, checking that they were on track, that she first noticed his nose. It wasn't the first time she had seen it, but the first time that she noticed it wasn't overly large. It was just long, a little hooked, aquiline and just like the noses in Roman artworks.

He had the proud, dignified nose of a Roman Emperor or God, and it suited him. His brow was no longer as furrowed as it had once been, and he certainly didn't have any wrinkles or smile lines aging his face. Actually, looking at him this way, she thought he was rather handsome. His hairline was a slight widow's peak and his raven hair was longer than it had been before the war, and did not look greasy at all. It shone a little, like silk.

She felt like she would do anything in that moment, just to be allowed to reach out and stroke it to feel the texture between her fingers.

From where she was sitting, Snape looked thin, but it was most likely because he was always shrouded in those all-concealing black robes. Those robes hid any of the toned muscles that she dared to find there. And she had felt them there before. When she had grabbed his arm on Halloween, she had been surprised to feel the wiry muscles in his arm rippling beneath her hands, and a sinewy strength she just couldn't describe. Who would have imagined that the Potions Master was as powerful in physical form as he was in magical strength?

But the thing that got Hermione the most about Severus Snape, whether he was scalding or teaching, was his amazing voice. It was deep, rich, velvety and silky all at the same time. The sound that passed his thin lips was plumy, sweet and utterly intoxicating. Although after reassessing his lips, she noted that the bottom lips bowed down more generously than she had first thought. Totally kissable in her opinion, but she shouldn't even be thinking like this about her 37 year old Professor. Gods, what was she even looking at him like that for?

'Miss Granger?' that voice purred into her ear, making her tremble with – was that desire?

'Yes?' she choked out.

'You're chopping those ginger roots,' he said softly, his warm breath teasing the back of her neck. 'Shouldn't you be crushing and then mincing them?'

Hermione froze up when she felt his arms come around her and then take her own cold hands in his pale, long-fingered ones. He moved her hands with his swiftly and expertly crushed the root beneath their joined hands, and then minced it swiftly.

'Honestly Miss Granger, where has your mind wandered today?' he said, stepping back from her.

She closed he mouth and swallowed through the dryness of it, straightening out as she went. 'Thank you for your help sir, but I think I can manage the rest on my own,' she said shortly, as a cover for her inattention to the correct subject.

His mouth twitched into a wry smile for a moment. 'Carry on then.'

Hermione immediately returned her attention to her Potion once he left her table, trying very hard not to look up at Snape. If she looked at him, she would be lost, because just looking at him distracted her, and she was almost positive that he was watching her and smirking now – smug bastard.

Although she was sure that others would not agree with her, Hermione thought that Snape was kind, courteous in his own roundabout way, and dead sexy. Harry would have called her mental by now for thinking about Snape of all people this way, but he just made her feel helpless.

Wait – had Snape just willingly touched her?

She lifted her gaze from the now simmering Potion and met Snape's eyes with her own questioning ones. He had only been trying to prove a point; she thought when she saw no emotion in his eyes. Snape just stared straight at her, like her could see through her. He felt guilty, but he had just wanted to touch her, and inhale her gentle scent, and when he had seen her daydreaming then, he couldn't resist the temptation.

He wondered what she had been thinking to loose focus in his class like that. She had never drifted off in Potions before, but from across the classroom, with her hair loosely pulled into a bun as she worked, she looked so beautiful. He knew it was wrong to desire his student, but she was no girl. She was a woman, and a woman that he hadn't been able to get out of his head for almost a week.

He wanted to run his fingers through her vanilla scented curls that were silky as opposed to the bushy mess they had once been, and taste the skin of her neck and kiss those slightly pink lips until they were swollen and red with his kisses. Stop, he thought angrily – you can not think about Hermione like that. She is your responsibility, your student; not just some woman you don't know.

Cursing himself for his treacherous thoughts, he sat back in his chair and observed the class, trying to stop his eye from lingering on her for too long, but to no avail. He was positive that he was taken with her by this point. Hermione Granger had him bound to her pinky finger. And that was going to be a severe problem.

'Alright class, it is time to pack up and leave for the afternoon,' he said softly, looking anywhere lese but at the beautiful, bright witch that had him enchanted.

A/N - I'd like to apologise in advance now for when I may be unable to update this story for another week. I have assignments as well right now and it all keeps me pulled pretty tight for spare time. I hope you've enjoyed this story so far and I hope to bring you more soon. Much Love - Brandy.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

Saturday came quickly and all of the Gryffindor's from third year and above were up early to get ready to go to Hogsmeade at exactly nine that morning. It was already seven and surely they had been up since at least half past five. Even the first and second years were up, giving money to the older students to buy things for them and chattering excitedly. This was the first trip that had been organized, and the next one wouldn't be until two weeks before Christmas, so they were all eager to make sure they were well stocked until then.

Harry had woken around six when he couldn't pretend to sleep while the ruckus went on downstairs, and reluctantly climbed out of bed and took a shower to wake him up better. By seven, he was already dressed and as ready as he'd ever be for his date with Luna – and yes, it was an actual date. Harry couldn't remember dating anyone since the awful date with Cho in his fifth year. He hadn't even dated Ginny. They had more or less just come together out of nowhere, just because it had felt right.

He had been ecstatic when Luna had accepted his offer, and wondered what she'd want to do, or how he should act. He was honestly as nervous as a first year sitting in Snape's Potions class. Why did there have to be rules for how boys should treat a girl on a date? Why couldn't it just be impulsive like he was in nature?

Eventually, he headed back up to his shared room with Neville, Seamus and Dean Thomas, away from the noise of the common room, only to find the other three boys just getting out of bed. He went to his bed and made it, just as Neville yawned, and so, taking advantage of his wakefulness, threw a pillow at him.

'Out of bed sleepy head,' Harry said with a laugh.

'I'm getting out,' Neville replied grumpily.

'Sorry.'

'You will be,' he replied with a rueful, yet sleepy smile, picking up the pillow and throwing at Harry's head.

Harry skillfully dodged it and left the room once more, laughing as he went as the other boys groaned tiredly. He left the common room through the portrait of the Fat Lady, and walked along to the other side of the corridor, until he encountered the painting guarding Hermione's quarters. He knocked on the wooden panel to the side and waited patiently for her to open up for him. He knew that she'd already be awake.

A few moments the portrait swung forwards and Hermione poked her head out to see who it was, and on seeing it was just Harry, she smiled. 'Morning Harry, are you nervous yet?' she asked.

'Maybe a little – I haven't dated since Cho in fifth year, and you remember what a disaster that was,' he replied with a nervous smile as he ran a hand through his messy hair.

Hermione laughed. 'How could I forget? Wasn't that when I told you and Ron that you had the emotional range of a teaspoon?' she said with another bout of soft laughter as he found a seat on one of her couches.

'Oh yes, you did, didn't you?'

'Oh, right… Harry I just found our that I had chaperoning duties today in Hogsmeade with the Professor's who are listed on for this trip, so I would really love if you could tell Neville that I cant go with him,' she said, as she picked up the letter that McGonagall had sent her that morning.

'That's fine. I'll just tell him o go with Dean and Seamus,' Harry replied, before suddenly grinning mischievously. 'But I'll tell you now; he's going to be disappointed.'

'What are you talking about?'

Harry gawked for a moment before he regained his composure and looked at her. 'Wow, you mean to tell me you don't know?' he asked, and she shook her head deftly as she began to drink from a cup of coffee. 'Oh, well, Hermione, I can't believe you didn't already know that Neville has been in love with you since fifth year.'

Hermione spat her mouthful of coffee back into her cup, and after coughing the liquid out of her lungs, she wiped her mouth with a napkin. 'What do you mean, he's in love with me?' she asked in a high-pitched voice.

'I mean what I say.'

Hermione snorted in and set down her cup on the coffee table. 'Oh honestly, he couldn't love me like that. I've never given him any indication that I was at all interested in pursuing a relationship with anyone, especially not someone I see as a brother. You and Neville both come under that category,' she explained. 'There is no way that it would even be a possibility for us.'

'I'm sorry to be the bearer, Hermione, but a lot of the guys this year have been talking about you in an – inappropriate way and I can't always stop it,' Harry said with a sorry look. 'Mostly just them wanting a, and I quote, "piece of the gorgeous arse",' he said, looking down at his feet.

'It's not your fault Harry, don't worry,' she said with a reassuring smile as she moved to hug him as he stood. 'They're all immature and sure as hell won't be getting a piece of me any time soon.'

'Well, I'd better leave you to it and go break poor Neville's heart for the day,' Harry said with a grin as he stood and got ready to go back to Gryffindor tower.

'I hope all goes well with Luna today,' she said, hugging him before opening the portrait for him to pass through.

'Thanks, so do I,' he replied, and then he was gone.

Hermione closed the portrait and sat back in her comfy chair to read a book for a little while before going to dress for her trip to Hogsmeade. Half an hour later, she got up and went to her room, charming her hair dry as she mounted the stairs to save time. She also decided to charm her hair into a loose bun, allowing a few wispy tendrils to escape the confines of the hair elastic. She dressed in jeans, a white blouse, her favorite navy, v-neck sweater and pulled her long, mid thigh-length black coat on as she left her rooms. She was down in the entrance hall, ready, by five to nine.

'Oh good Miss Granger, you're here,' said McGonagall, who crossed from the other side of the entrance hall to her.

'What would you like me to do Professor?' she asked.

'Oh, just walk near the fourth years there and back, and wander as you like around the village, but don't hesitate to put a stop to any nonsense as you see fit,' the older witch replied. 'Remember, Head Girl and Boy can give detentions.'

'Alright, and which Professors will be chaperoning today also?' Hermione questioned out of curiosity.

'I will, of course. As will both professors Snape and Flitwick,' Minerva answered as they walked together towards the front doors. 'You can bring up the end with Professor Snape. The fourth years tend to drag along.'

Hermione's stomach did a flip at the mention of his name so many times in the same minute, and she was sure that her breathing was becoming slightly restricted. 'Okay, so I will wait for him here.'

'There will be no need, Miss Granger,' said that low voice in almost a purr.

Hermione turned around in surprise and spied Snape walking across the hall towards them. He was dressed in the usual, black trousers, white shirt cuffs peaking just a little at his wrists where the black frock coat ended on his arm. But this time, instead of the black teaching robes she was used to, he was wearing a mid thigh-length black winter coat as well, which struck her as so different. It looked very good on him. So good that all she wanted to do was tear it and the rest of his clothes off.

But really, she should stop thinking about such ridiculous and totally inappropriate things. She was Head Girl. She couldn't just go around thinking about tearing her Professors' clothes off. She had responsibilities, and it was just an infatuation. But he did look quite dashing nonetheless.

'Shall we go then?' he asked impatiently, gesturing forwards.

Hermione refocused and realized that the students had already begun to leave, and she had been standing there gawking and not talking like an idiot. Although she was sure that Snape thought she was an idiot especially when she spoke. 'Right, ummm… sorry. Yes lets,' she managed to stammer.

She swore she saw him roll his eyes at her before he began to walk off, and she hurried to catch up to him and keep up too. They walked in silence, as there was already enough noise coming from the other noisy students scattered along the path before them. They walked at a leisurely pace, mostly because the students were simply too inefficient and slow, and they had to remain behind them, but it was vaguely relaxing to be able to walk slower with Snape.

Hermione had no idea why, but there was just something about Snape that made her relax instead of tense up, and made her loose focus in a way that she never had before him. It was a nice feeling that she had never experienced with another before. Perhaps it comforted her that he was no fumbling boy, and he clearly knew what he was doing and that he was confident. Hermione loved confident males. Ron was a bumbling mess, Harry stammered often, and Neville tended to walk around like a bit of a nervous wreck. She loved them, but for other reasons.

'What do you plan to do in Hogsmeade Professor?' she asked politely, breaking the silence that he stretched that far.

'Nothing of significant importance,' he relied tersely.

'Oh, well then, if you don't have anything important to do, then perhaps you will do me the honor of sitting for a drink with me. I'm freezing and could go for coffee,' she offered, hoping with every shred of her dignity that he would not turn her down.

His eyebrow rose at her and his lips thinned. 'Where do you suggest? Surely you don't expect me to go to the Three Broomsticks with you, and the Hogshead is highly inappropriate for an underage witch to go into,' he said with smirk.

'I'm eighteen, hardly underage,' she replied, noting his surprise with satisfaction at having him caught off guard. 'Besides, I was hardly going to go to a pub for a coffee. I was thinking the bookshop and café around the corner from Zonko's.'

'Your suggestion has merits,' he answered as he considered his reply.

'Yes, well I've been meaning to pick up my order from my last visit and thought that today was as good a day as any,' she murmured. 'If you don't want to sir do not feel obligated out of courtesy.'

'And I have been courteous to you?' he asked in self-mockery.

'Recently, yes,' she replied honestly, steeling herself for the oncoming rejection so that she could lick her wounds in private later.

The corner of his mouth quirked up on one side in a half-smile for a moment at her comment and she felt herself becoming a little flustered. Gods he was handsome when he smiled. He turned and began walking on ahead of her, and when he noticed that she wasn't walking along with him, he turned around to look at her from a few meters away, cutting a dashing figure in the autumn sun.

'Are you coming then?' he asked in a voice just loud enough for her to hear. 'You did invite me after all.'

Hermione snapped out of her daze and walked to him, and then took the arm he offered her politely. 'Yes, I did ask you to come with me,' she replied with a small smile, letting him lead the way.

They walked to Hogsmeade arm-in-arm, luckily being inconspicuous enough so that people wouldn't notice anything was out of the ordinary. But Neville, from across the street with Dean and Seamus, watched with sad eyes as he saw Hermione walk on Snape's arm into the bookshop, desperately wishing that he was Snape. He couldn't believe he was jealous of the Greasy Git.

Meanwhile, Hermione went to see about her book order, while Snape did the gentlemanly duty of finding them a table. While one part of his mind was screaming that this was all wrong, and that she was his student, the other part was reasoning that it was okay, it was just a friendly coffee and that there were no motives behind her wanting him to have coffee with her. Come to think of it, it was most absurd that any student would want coffee enough to even come up with some nefarious plot to humiliate him. They disliked spending time with him enough anyway.

Besides, Hermione was too good for that sort of thing. She looked quite lovely – no, wrong he couldn't think that.

'Professor, I took the liberty of ordering for you,' Hermione said as she sat in the chair across from him, glancing out the window. 'I hope you like Macchiato.'

'I am sure that whatever you have chosen will be fine,' he replied indifferently, leaning back comfortably in his chair.

Little did he know, but that simple confident movement made Hermione's throat dry and her head spin? Why did he have to be so confident? Didn't he know that confidence and few words were sexy to her? Well of course he didn't know that, but she wished he would stop making her feel so flustered. Since when had she become attracted to her Professor, who was almost twenty year her senior?

'Your coffee, Miss Granger,' Snape drawled, handing it to her when the tray with their order floated into view.

Hermione looked away from the window, and took the coffee with a polite nod and a thank you, before returning to her thoughts. But no matter how hard she tried to focus, all she could hear in her head now was his voice alerting her to the arrival of her coffee. She was getting a combined package of three of her most favorite things – coffee, books and Snape's company.

'Are you actually going to speak at all?' Snape asked, taking a sip of his coffee.

'I thought it annoyed you when I spoke,' she returned.

'Touché,' he said with a mock bow, which she couldn't help but to smile at. This was her idea of how to spend a Saturday.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

Monday morning was already knocking loudly on the Great Oak front doors; the morning sunlight was not shining through the halls, because it was stormy and raining outside already. What a great way to begin the day. There was murmuring in the Great Hall at breakfast, and everyone dawdled to their first classes numbly. Hermione had Ancient Runes followed by Arithmancy first off that morning, and was seated towards the back row of the room, already finished her class work and simply waiting for everyone else to catch up so that they could move on to the next topic.

Professor Philemon had not allowed her to rush ahead of the rest of the class so far this term, even though she knew full well that Hermione could finish the entire seventh year course with her eyes closed and hands behind her back. However, Philemon just wanted her to try and work at a slower pace so that the other students didn't feel like they were dragging behind, just because Hermione raced ahead.

There were only seven other students in the Ancient Runes class, including Terry Boot, Anthony Goldstein, and Daphne Greengrass. All of them were from Ravenclaw, and although they were all highly intelligent, they were slow and inefficient, because the two boys sat together and talked, and Daphne was unlucky enough to be stuck with them just because of the house colours. Blaise Zabini was the only Slytherin in the entire class, and the three Hufflepuff's were Justin Flinch-Fletchly, Susan Bones and Rosie Carmichael. It was an odd class, but a good one.

It was the same people in her Arithmancy class too, except Susan, Justin and Blaise all did Care of Magical creatures with Hagrid and Professor Grubblyplank. I was odd seeing the way Zabini acted in class without Malfoy there. He was respectful and hard working and did not throw scathing remarks all over the place as he usually did, but had recently stopped doing it al together. When they were out of class, they went back to being Zabini and the Mudblood.

'Ahem, Miss Granger?' asked Philemon.

'Yes Professor?' she replied hastily. 'What did you need?'

'Would you like to continue with the next section on Runic Romance?' the Professor replied, staring at her as if she were totally transparent.

'Oh, of course,' Hermione recovered hastily, beginning the reading to the class.

By the time she was finished reading the chapter, it was time to pack up and leave for Arithmancy. She collected together her things and began to leave, when Philemon stopped her from leaving.

'A word if you please, Miss Granger,' the witch said.

'Of course, what did you want Professor?' Hermione replied politely.

'You seem distracted Hermione. Are you sure that everything is alright?' she asked, sitting in her chair behind her desk and removing her glasses. 'Your reading was emotionless.'

'Everything is fine, well I thought I was fine, but maybe you can see something I can't,' she replied, feeling confused. Did she look ill?

'Very well, you may leave.'

Hermione left without another word, stopping by a reflective window on her way to the next class. She looked fine, everything was normal, and the only difference was she had worn her hair in a loose know instead of a braid or bun. But she always had her hair like that. What on earth did Philemon mean by emotionless reading? She was just relaying facts from a book to the class; hardly a task requiring passion and excitement. But maybe therein lay the problem.

She hurried along to Arithmancy and slipped into a seat at the back of the class without the Professor noticing she was late and immediately began taking notes like the other students. She worked through all of the questions, formulating her own equations to solve the problems set and listening intently to the woman as she lectured. At the end of class she put her books away and left first just so that she wouldn't get caught out by another Professor for acting differently.

She simply didn't feel like talking much that day, and as odd as that may have been, she just didn't want to talk. Sighing, she went to Phoenix tower to read for an hour or two. She had a double period free before Double Transfiguration that afternoon. She needed to get in the mood to talk; otherwise McGonagall would surely keep her after class and interrogate her also. It was then that she heard knocking on the wooden panel and reluctantly stood and opened her portrait.

'Malfoy?' she asked with surprise.

He sneered at her and snatched her wrist up firmly. Before she could speak, he pulled her out of her rooms and slammed her up against a wall in an alcove in the hall. He muttered a silencing charm so that no-one would hear them; obviously thinking that he had an advantage on her.

'What the hell are you getting at?' Hermione demanded when she saw the mischievous glint in her eyes. 'Malfoy, you're hurting me…'

'What did you think, Mudblood? Did you think that I was going to forgive you for what you did to me and my father? He can't come to the castle anymore, and I'm not allowed to leave the castle,' he spat, shoving a hand into her hair and tugging it hard until she looked him in the eyes. 'Now I'm going to teach you a lesson, and then maybe you'll know better than to mess with a Malfoy.'

'What are you going to do to me then?' Hermione snapped. 'You can't do anything here Malfoy. You'll loose your position as Head Boy. You'll be expelled.'

Draco laughed and pressed her harder against the wall with his lower body accentuating exactly what he had planned for her. He was going to rape her. 'Scared now Mudblood? Father told me what a slut you are, and how you begged him for it. I want you to beg me and tell me that you want it,' he said in a low voice. 'Beg me…'

'Oh, god no…'

Malfoy immediately pressed his lips to hers, forcing his tongue into her mouth, and kissing her without permission. Hermione fought the urge to be sick, and bit down hard on his lip, drawing blood. He yelped with pain and pulled away from her mouth, wiping some of the blood away with the back of one hand, digging his fingers harder into her shoulder with the other one.

'You filthy little bitch,' he snarled. 'You fucking bit me! I'm bleeding, and now you're going to get it.'

Hermione wrenched her arm free and punched him square in the nose, and brought her knee up into his groin when he staggered back from the blow. He dropped to the ground in pain, and she ran for it, whispering a charm to slam her chambers shut as she went. She went down as many floors as she could, until she ended up, with tears streaming down her face, and a long cut across her cheek, in the Dungeons. She hadn't even noticed the cut and her bleeding lip, or how she had run to where she was, but all she knew was that she needed to see Snape.

She knew that he would be teaching, so she stopped at his office door, careful not to go in, and summoned an elf.

'Dobby, please go ask Professor Snape to come here,' she pleaded, sniffing and trying to calm herself down. She knew that Snape despised criers.

'Yes Miss Granger,' the elf said, disappearing with a pop.

A moment later, the door to the classroom opened down the hall and closed with a loud thud, and then she could hear Snape's footsteps echoing down the hall. She slumped against the door and waited, until he stood before her in all of his glory.

'I'm so sorry Professor,' she whimpered. 'I couldn't think of where else to go…'

His features became concerned for a moment, before the mask went back into place, and he unlocked his office, and ushered her in. He told her to sit and went through another door just off of the office and came back with a bowl, cloth and bottles of potions. He kneeled on the ground beside her seat and muttered a spell to fill the bowl with warm water, dipping the cloth into, and applying it to her cut gently.

'What happened?' he asked softly.

'Malfoy attacked me,' was all she could bring herself to say.

Snape eyes snapped up to hers and held them for a moment. 'What do you mean?' he demanded.

'He came to my rooms… s-slammed me against a wall and threatened to – to…' she began through sobs. 'H-he tried to rape me.'

Snape's movement stopped, and he closed his eyes for a moment, before he resumed cleaning her wound, and then applied a potion to it with the cloth. 'Take this calming Potion while I go talk to the Headmaster,' he said simply.

Hermione took the vial from him and removed the stopper as he disappeared through the floo to see Dumbledore. She had done the right thing, coming to Snape. He was taking care of her; just like she was sure he always had been, even when he was being mean and scathing to her in earlier years. A moment later, the floo became green, and Snape, followed by the Headmaster, appeared in the office.

'Miss Granger, I am dreadfully sorry that this happened to you,' Dumbledore began sorrowfully.

'I-it wasn't your fault, sir,' she said, feeling the potion begin to take effect and soothe her frazzled nerves.

Snape sat down in his chair behind the desk, with Albus assumed the one beside Hermione. They sat in silence for a while, until Dumbledore next spoke. 'I do believe that this calls for a severe punishment. We can not expel Mr. Malfoy as of yet, but I can see no other option but to remove his title as Head Boy,' he said gravely. 'I shall speak to Minerva and alert the other Professors.'

'All that is fine, Albus, but what are we going to do about Miss Granger's safety? Mr. Malfoy is still quite capable of inflicting further harm on her,' Snape said darkly from across the desk.

'I shall have to cast a protection barrier on Miss Granger, so that he may not come within ten meters of her and may not perform any sort of magical hex or curse on her,' he replied with a sigh. 'It is quite unfortunate. I had expected better from that boy and hoped he would be nothing like his father.'

'It is as they say; the apple doesn't fall far from the tree,' Snape added.

Albus sighed and stood from his chair, walking to the door. 'I will take over your class Severus. You take Miss Granger back to her rooms and find Mr. Malfoy. We need to have a little chat,' the older wizard said.

'Very well,' Snape said as the older man left.

He looked over at Hermione who had her head bowed and was nervously biting her bottom lip as she stared at the hands in her lap. He felt his chest tighten seeing her so sad, and all he wanted to do was pull her into his arms and hold her as she wept for all of the terrible things that kept happening to her lately. Honestly, the girl couldn't get a break since the war.

He stood up and muttered a charm over the fireplace in his office, changing the ward settings to include the fireplace from her room. 'Come on, Miss Granger. I'll take you to your rooms and we'll see about Malfoy,' he said softly, trying not to frighten her off.

She looked up, stood and went to him, as he threw floo powder into the flames of his fire, and stepped in. She followed when he beckoned, and soon found herself, held up close to his long, firm body as they Flooed to her rooms. He let her go out first, and waited until she was sitting down until he followed and went straight to the portrait. As much as he wanted to stay, it was inappropriate for him to be in her chambers all the same, so he had to at least go find the ferret that hurt her.

'Will you be okay now, Miss Granger?' he asked as he opened the portrait.

'Yes, thank you again, Professor,' she replied a little shakily. 'Sorry for interrupting your class. It seems you've become a bit of a hero of mine lately.'

He raised an eyebrow at that. 'Perhaps it seems that way because you have become a damsel in distress more frequently,' he replied with a smirk as he swept out of the rooms without looking back at her stunned expression.

Hermione sat back in her seat with a sigh. Malfoy was going to want her dead after this, and she knew that one way or another, he was going to get his chance at revenge. But whether she wanted to or not, she wouldn't be letting him have it without a fight. She may have Dumbledore's protection while she was enrolled at Hogwarts, but once she left, he would come for her – no doubts.

She picked herself up from the chair and went upstairs to the bathroom, where she began to shrug out of her robes, followed by the rest of her clothes. She felt dirty after her encounter with Malfoy, and when she took her shirt off, he could see the dark, purple bruises forming on her shoulders, and if she turned a bit, the bruises and scratches from the stone walls on her back. She had been lucky enough that Snape has heeled the cut on her cheek, for if he hadn't, it would have scarred.

Hermione didn't think she needed to look any more unattractive, and with that thought, she got out of the rest of her clothes, threw them into the laundry basket and hopped in for a nice long shower. She scrubbed everywhere clean as well as she could without putting pressure on the bruises, and once clean and dry, applied some salve she had in her trunk. She got dressed in a fresh uniform, with a clean robe, and dried her hair, putting it back into the loose knot it had been in earlier.

'That's it dear, put on a brave face for the boys,' said her reflection as she looked into her enchanted mirror.

'Oh shut it you,' she said with a huff, before turning on her heal and leaving the bathroom.

She grabbed her bag and looked at the time, before leaving the room and heading to her next class with a nice false smile on her face.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

The Great Hall was filled with chatter and whispers and staring that night at dinner. There was not one soul in the school that had not heard about Malfoy's removal from the position of Head Boy, but the catch was that nobody new exactly why he was not the Head boy any more. Everyone had their stories, rumors and speculations to spread, and a few had even asked the Head Girl what is was about. Hermione never answered and told them to mind their own business, and Harry and Neville told them all to sod off and to stop being nosy Gits while they interrogated her themselves every evening after dinner to know the truth. She didn't budge.

It had been four days since the incident, and she was glad for it to be in the past already, but she didn't want to tell Harry or Neville. They'd kill him with their bare hands if it came down to it. And she did not want her best friends to become killers just because she was a girl.

'Hermione, come on and tell us. Everyone else is talking about it, so why can't you?' Harry asked in a whiny voice.

'Look Harry, it is none of mine, or anyone else's business. I wasn't told a thing. The only thing I know is that Terry Boot is first in line to be Malfoy's replacement,' she replied snappily. 'Now eat your food and put a sock in it.'

'Wow, someone sounds like a PMS Queen today,' Harry said, backing off and returning his attention to his food.

Hermione couldn't eat after that, so she merely pretended to be eating her food as she picked at it, leaning lazily on one of her hands that propped her head up. She wanted to get out, but was afraid that it would cause some sort of commotion with the Gryffindor's, and soon the lot of them would be knocking on her door. Casually, she risked a glance in the direction of the Staff Table and saw Snape sitting up ramrod straight next to Dumbledore, looking like he wasn't doing a lot of eating either.

Their eyes met, and held, and she chanced a weak smile at him, which she was surprised he returned, before dropping his gaze, and stabbing at the food on his plate in a fake gesture that he was going to eat it. She knew that he wouldn't.

'So Hermione is there any chance of getting your help for Transfiguration later?' Harry asked through a mouthful of mashed potato and carrots.

Hermione smiled at him for a moment. 'Yes, I think I could spare an hour, as long as you promise to focus and not go off with Dean to the Quidditch pitch for a late night practice again,' she replied.

'Alright, alright I promise this time. It's just we had a game the next day against Slytherin last time, remember?' he defended.

'Yes Harry,' she said with an exasperated sigh. 'I was just having a go at you.'

Harry grinned once he had swallowed and began eating in earnest again. Honestly, she had no idea how he could possibly eat so much. She turned to the other side and saw Neville eating at the exact same pace. Boys, she thought shaking her head.

When dinner was finished, she went straight to the Gryffindor common room with Harry, and they pulled out his text books and notes, and went through all of the wand motions that he would need for the unit of work, memorizing the actual spells as well. Once she was positive he had the general gist of it, she left, making him promise to keep practicing for another twenty minutes after she left. She knew he wouldn't do it, but thought he might consider it anyway.

She eventually made it back to her rooms and flopped lazily onto the settee in front of the fire, seeking the warmth. It was very nearly winter, and although the snow had yet to fall, the skies indicated that it would be arriving soon. She looked at the clock on her mantelpiece, and realizing that it was still too early for bed, she decided to go visiting – and she already had the exact person in mind.

She went straight to the fire, pulled out a handful of Floo powder, and tossed it in, turning the flames green, and grabbing up her newest book, stepped in. She spoke her destination clearly, and not a moment later, stood in the fireplace of one Severus Snape's office. She stepped out of the fireplace gracefully, catching the stunned look on Snape's face before he schooled it back to neutral.

'Good evening Professor,' she said brightly.

His eyebrow rose at her. 'And why, pray tell, is the Head Girl in my office on a Friday evening no less?' he asked smoothly.

'Do I have to have a reason? Maybe I just like your company,' she replied, standing near his desk where he sat apparently marking essays, with his glasses perched on the bridge of his nose. He wore glasses?

His other eyebrow shot up at that, making him look even more questioning, and he chuckled low in his throat. 'Nobody enjoys my company Miss Granger, and now that you've had your fun, you may go and tell your friends that you have completed your bet, good night,' he said sharply.

Hermione frowned. 'You really think so terribly of me? Do you really think that I would sink that low?' she demanded, fighting back the tears and holding the sob in.

He sat up straighter and stared down his nose at her, despite the fact that she was standing higher than he was. 'You're being impertinent girl. Go back to your friends and enjoy your evening,' he said numbly aware that he had upset her. God he wanted to take his mean words back.

Hermione hands were on her hips by then. 'I came to spend the evening with you, sir, if you were so inclined that is. Apparently your not, so I'll just go,' she said, hands falling to her sides, as she picked up her book, and turned back to the fireplace.

Snape watched with a tight chest as she turned her back on him, and began walking away. He wanted to reach up and draw her back, sit her down near the fire with him, and talk to her about everything, but he really couldn't let himself. He just didn't want to open up. He was too afraid. In the last second, before she took some Floo powder to leave, he changed his mind and got out of his seat, leaving his essay marking where it was.

'Miss Granger - stop,' he said softly.

She stopped where she was, and didn't bother looking back at him. 'Yes?'

He closed his eyes and gave a heaving mental sigh. He was being ridiculous. He shouldn't be saying this but – 'Miss Granger, come sit back down. It was not my intention to offend, and if I have, I do apologise,' he said quietly. 'I am so inclined to talk with you if that is your wish.'

She turned back around, with a smile curving her mouth, and a gentle light dancing in her eyes from the way the flames danced in the fireplace. 'I do wish it,' she replied, walking back, and sitting in the seat he indicated before the fire.

He sat in the seat across from her, and removed the glasses, setting them aside and rubbing the bridge of his nose from where the glasses had pressed into his skin. 'What did you have in mind to discuss?' he asked.

Hermione looked down at the book in her hands and smiled, before discarding it to the side. 'I brought the book, thinking it would be easier to reason with you to talk if I brought something intellectual, but I'm not interested in talking about it tonight,' she answered.

'What do you want to know?'

'I want to know what has changed. Why have you been different to the students this year? You're nicer to Harry and me and just about everyone, except for Malfoy,' she asked curiously.

'Why would you want to know that?'

'Because you interest me,' she answered simply.

He frowned at that. 'I will not be turned into one of your little projects, Miss Granger. I am not a house elf, and I don't need pity,' he warned.

'I never said that I pitied you, and don't ever think that. I pity people like Malfoy, who have no sense of right and wrong, and people like Tom Riddle, who let his hatred overpower the strength and human qualities to forgive and love. I pity the monster he became. I most certainly do not pity you, Professor,' she replied confidently, looking him right in the eye. She wasn't lying – he could tell.

'Then what is it that you want from me if it is not pity that you feel?' he asked gruffly, lowered his gaze to the hearth rug.

'I want your friendship, if you are willing to give it. I want someone to talk to about the things that interest both them and me. I want someone to sit and read with on occasion, because talking is overrated sometimes. And I just want someone to make me feel secure – safe,' she replied honestly.

Snape felt his mind grow fuzzy and his heart swell as she spoke. Why did she want all of those things of him? What could she possibly see in her Professor that she did not in anyone her own age - even Potter and Longbottom? He realized that he hadn't spoken in a bit, and decided not to let it get any more awkward.

'I am not very practiced at befriending people,' he admitted, swallowing hard. 'I'm afraid my people skills leave much to be desired.'

'I can teach you,' she said with a small, encouraging smile.

'A student teaching the teacher then?' he asked with a smirk.

'Something similar to that; I suppose we'll just have to learn together, because I know for a fact that my people skills aren't exactly bringing in the crowds either,' she replied with a soft laugh.

Snape decided to give it a shot. It might hurt him, and he would feel exceptionally sore at heart knowing that he would be the only one that felt attraction, but he had to. She wanted to be his friend, and that would suffice for him. He wanted to spend time with her, no matter how wrong it was. He wanted to share his life with her, no matter how much it would break him not being able to call her his own. This was what he wanted for now though, and maybe forever.

He cleared his throat. 'I treat you differently now because I am free to treat people like human beings,' he stated. 'I do not find myself any more important than the next person – one of the greatest flaws in Tom Riddle's philosophy.'

Hermione's eyes lit up. 'You never hated us?'

'I never hated you. I may have hated Potter for a time, until I realized that it was pathetic to hate someone because of who their father was. Harry may have many of the same qualities as James Potter, but he has Lily in him, and is not wholly arrogant and self important as I thought him to be once,' Snape replied.

'I'm glad to hear, it, although I'm sure Harry would still disagree with me if I said anything to him,' Hermione said.

'You plan to tell this to people?'

'Hardly Professor,' she scoffed. 'I value my privacy as much as you do.'

'So we are to be secret friends?' he asked.

'Only if you want it to be clandestine,' Hermione replied honestly. She didn't want to scare him off before he even began.

'I value privacy enough to think that it would be far wiser to keep it in wraps for a while. I hardly think it would reflect well on either of us,' he answered.

'I'm not particularly fussed on what people have to say about my choices. I do what I like, and I speak my mind when I need to,' she said matter-of-factly. 'I hope me being a Gryffindor doesn't discourage you.'

'Despite popular belief, I do not discriminate based on the house, even thought it seemed so during the years that I was used as a spy,' he said.

'Well you did well proving otherwise.'

'Perhaps I am just well-practiced at being a spy?' he suggested humorously.

Hermione smiled warmly at that comment. 'You really are different when you loosen up sir. I'm glad the war is past and you can be yourself,' she said softly.

'I think that being my friend entitles you to the privilege of calling me Severus, don't you think?' he asked with a small smile playing about his lips.

'Hermione then,' she replied. 'In private only if you like.'

'You will never fail to amaze me Hermione Granger,' Snape drawled with a teasing smile, which she beamed at.

'You should smile more often.'

'But that would ruin my image, _Hermione_,' he answered back, emphasizing her name.

'Oh sod your image,' she replied with a chuckle, picking up her book and glancing at her watch. 'Oh, I should leave. It's getting late, and I have to go to Hogsmeade in the morning to buy a gift for my parents.'

'Will you need company in Hogsmeade?' he asked.

'Are you offering?'

'Perhaps.'

'Then I would love to have your company. You can help me choose something for my dad that way,' she answered, stepping up to the fireplace.

'Until tomorrow then,' he replied.

'Tomorrow – good night _Severus_,' she said, disappearing in the green flames.

A/N - Okay like I said, I haven't been able to update for a week almost and I'm sorry about that. I have given you this much, in the hopes that it will be enough to tide through until next time. Review me please - Brandy.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

Saturday morning was as dark and gloomy as one would only expect in late autumn, when the first snows were threatening to fall. Unfortunately, grey skies and rain were predicted for this particular Saturday, and the occupants of the castle all felt that it was reasonable to sleep in. Only a few students turned up to Breakfast, and all sat together on one table instead of on other tables, and even a few of the staff that were not on duty had decided that breakfast was an overrated meal.

Snape sat with Albus and Minerva at the table, listening to the older, Scottish witch speak in her thick accent about what the plans for the day was. Apparently she was marking essays in the Library - lovely. Albus mentioned that he would join her, and then the attention was turned on him.

'What are you doing today Severus? You don't have student duties,' Minerva asked nosily. 'You do remember that it is your day off don't you?'

'Of course I remember Minerva,' he said through gritted teeth. Sometimes she was too much for him. 'And I do not recall what I do on my days off being any of your business, woman.'

She smiled at that. 'Getting defensive Severus? You're hiding something, and I want to know it,' she said in a demanding tone.

'Why do you blasted Gryffindor's always insist on knowing everything? I can assure you that anything I plan to do today has nothing to do with you, and can safely say that I do not intend to put anyone in danger,' he replied tersely.

Albus chuckled then, and looked at Severus knowingly. 'My boy, I do not think that Minerva believes that you are doing anything dangerous, she is merely curious as to what your plans for the day are,' he reasoned.

'Why you both are so suddenly interested in what I do in my spare time, I have no idea' he stated in a frustrated voice.

'Just tell us you silly man,' Minerva chided.

Snape sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, closing his eyes. He was going to have to tell him or they wouldn't leave him be for the rest of the week at least. He honestly didn't think he could handle that much torture. 'I am going to Hogsmeade today,' he growled. 'Now is that all you wanted to know?'

'You're still not telling us everything,' Albus noted with a grin.

Snape cursed Albus and his damned perceptiveness. 'I am escorting Miss Granger to Hogsmeade today,' he admitted, preparing himself for the next wave of angry words that was bound to come from Minerva.

He looked up and was surprised to see two faces smiling at him. 'Why are you looking at me like that?' he demanded gruffly.

Minerva smiled even wider. 'Severus, welcome back,' she said, reaching a hand out to him and patting him on the arm. 'I never thought I'd see you like this again.'

'What on earth are you on about?'

'You smiled when you said her name, my boy. You might be able to hide yourself from everyone else, but that girl brings out something in you that you haven't known since you arrived at Hogwarts as a first year,' Albus said softly. 'I can remember your wonderment and joy.'

Snape's breath caught in his throat. They knew. 'Albus, I can explain. I – I didn't think – I tried to pt it out of my mind, but I can't,' he stammered. 'I have – it is entirely inappropriate, I already know…'

Dumbledore held up his hand to silence him. 'You tried to put her out of your mind. You may succeed that one day, but you will never able to put her out of your heart will you?' he said softly. 'I already know, Severus.'

'Am I that transparent?'

Albus shook his head. 'Only to us, dear boy. We have known you since you were an infant, and you have always been out favorite,' Albus replied with a smug smile. 'Do yourself a favor my boy, and don't let this one go like you did the last one.'

'But don't you dare hurt her,' Minerva warned.

'I wouldn't dream of it Minerva,' Snape replied, looking down from the staff table to where the students were sitting. He spotted Hermione, and she flashed him a small smile, which he returned briefly. 'She doesn't feel about me the way I do her.'

'How do you know that?' Minerva asked gently. 'Did you ever bother to ask her if she cared for you?'

'I do not have a right to ask her such a personal question; neither am I foolish enough to want to know the answer to that question,' he replied.

'You worry too much perhaps?' Albus offered.

'I am content to admire her from afar,' he lied through his teeth, even as his heart ached for her. 'I am content to remain as her companion and friend.'

'Did she ask to be your friend?'

'Not so much asked, but more or less demanded that it be so,' he answered. 'She can be very insistent when she wants to be.'

'That sounds like Hermione.'

'Yes, it does,' he said with a small smile playing on his lips.

With a glance down at the students table, Minerva saw Hermione in conversation with the newly installed head boy, Terry Boot. She also saw the glances that the young woman shot up to Severus, who was still talking to Albus about something else no doubt. If that wasn't a look of love in the girl's eyes, then she didn't know what was.

'Severus, shouldn't you be leaving?' she asked.

He looked up, and then at Hermione to find that she had risen to leave already. 'Yes, good day, Albus, Minerva,' he said, standing and sweeping out.

'Smitten,' Minerva commented to Albus as he left.

Snape went to his rooms and cleaned up, brushing his teeth and removing his robes in favor of his long black jacket that he wore to Hogsmeade. Soon, he was back in the hall, waiting for Hermione to arrive, and was pleased to find that he did not have to wait long. Within moments of his emersion from the Dungeons, Hermione appeared at the top of the main staircase.

'Sorry I'm late,' she said as an apology.

'No need,' he replied, offering her an arm to take, which she did readily, and together they exited the castle through a hidden side door. Better not to draw any attention inside the castle. Snape had no problems with walking with her so close now, and he admired her openly while they were alone like this together. He was sure that all he had needed was the permission from Albus and Minerva to feel this way about Hermione. They walked in mostly silence until Hermione found it necessary to ask if he needed to go anywhere in particular.

'I will have to stop by the apothecary on or return, but it shall only be a short stop,' he answered.

'What are you getting there?'

'Various dragon's bloods for my research,' he replied. 'It has been very difficult to obtain them, so I must collect them or risk setting back my research for a Lycanthrope cure.'

'That sounds fascinating,' she said honestly.

They entered the first shop on the street as they arrived in Hogsmeade, only to find that they stood together in Madam Malkin's Hogsmeade Branch. 'Is there anything that you need here?' he asked.

'I'd like some new casual robes and new dress robes while I'm here, so I wont have to come back to Hogsmeade until after Christmas,' she replied with a sheepish smile. 'I hope you don't mind.'

'I do not.'

'I had no idea you were a patient man,' she commented idly. 'I was always under the impression that you gave us in class.'

'You are incorrect – I do not have patience for the idiots I have to teach,' he offered simply.

'Are you calling me and idiot?' she asked in mock offense.

She went and made plans with the owner of the shop, speaking to the older witch as if they were on familiar terms, which indicated that she must frequent this particular robe shop in the village. Severus took a seat and waited for their conversation to end. When Hermione returned, she had an armful of assorted fabric colours.

'Which colors? Pick three,' she asked.

Severus felt a bit flustered at this, and held up his hands in defeat. 'I have no idea, I'm a male. Men do not have to make those decisions,' he said.

'I want your opinion. Other women often only tell us what we want to hear. Men tend to be more brutal and honest about what looks good, or what does not look good at all,' she reasoned.

'Good point,' he conceded. 'Well if I have to be honest with you, the bronze, deep blue and dark emerald suit your complexion well.'

Hermione smiled at him brightly and went to the older witch with her chosen colours. The next thing that happened was that Hermione was measured in the back room, and her casual robes were created and were more natural in style. One the first was complete and fitted, Irene Malkin duplicated the style on the other two colours. She then had those measurement used on her dress robes.

She needed them for the Christmas Eve, Yuletide feast for when Ministry members, old Order members and families and friends of the students all gathered together. A short while later Irene reappeared in the room and handed her a navy blue pile of silk. Her robes were amazing.

The inside piece would fall to the floor and was strapless. The outer piece had sleeves that would go to her mid forearm and was lined with delicate silver lace. It would fall to mid thigh, and had different sized stars stitched into it with silver thread. To top it all off, it held together and would clasp at the front around waist high with a shining, silver star that twinkled at her.

She went into the dressing room and tired them on, and found that it was a perfect fit everywhere. She removed the robes quickly once more and re-dressed in what she had come in, before folding the robes neatly and carrying them out with her when she returned to the back room. She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Lucius Malfoy. The door to the front of the shop from the back was conveniently closed, and now she was trapped.

'Well, well, well. What do we have here? A little Mudblood spreading her likeness over an all-Wizarding town?' he asked with a sneer.

'What do you want Malfoy?' she spat.

'What do you think? Revenge is sweet Mudblood. I am going to take you away, lock you up, play games with Snape, break him, and then I'm gong to kill you,'

'You'll never get away with it,' she hissed, glaring at him all the while.

She felt and heard the resounding slap as he hit her hard. She stumbled and clutched at her stinging, aching face, crouching in the ground as she tried to recover. She knew she was no match for him physically, and she knew that he took her wand. But she couldn't do anything else at the time.

Get up, filth,' he growled.

She complied, but then turned on him and stared straight at him. 'You'll never get away with this,' she shouted desperately.

He took her roughly by the wrist and drew her to him hard and fast, before Disapparating for the shop.

Irene Malkin walked in not long after and found the room to be totally empty, save for the bloodstained note and her wand. Starting to panic, she collected and put all of Hermione's robes on her tab and hurried over to the man to see if her knew where Hermione was.

'Sir,' she said to Snape hesitantly. 'I am afraid there had been an incident involving young Hermione,' she began in all a rush, handing him all of Hermione's things.

'What do you mean?' he demanded as he unfolded the note.

'Hermione has disappeared and all I have found was her wand with this note. I didn't hear a thing,' she answered.

'What?'

'Hermione isn't here,' she repeated.

Snape read through the letter in his hand with increasing alarm, feeling his stomach begin to creep up his throat as he re-read every word. Hermione had been abducted. And it was all his fault. He knew that even by associating with her, he would be putting her in a great deal of danger, but he had taken the risk, and look where it had gotten them.

He knew who this was, and he knew why Lucius Malfoy was doing this to him. He wanted revenge, and if Malfoy was good at anything, it was the art of deception and the sweetness of revenge. And the woman he was sure he loved was caught in the crossfire. Hermione…

A/N – I apologise for this chapter, but it is essential for the plot. It is cliché, I know, but not the same as my other fics. I apologise that I have not and will not be able to update again for a while as I have become involved in a Musical that is taking up all of my time. Anyway, happy reading – Brandy.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

The circular office was dimly lit and the mood was haunting and dark. The rain fell heavily outside, pouring and dampening the already gloomy mood. Hermione had been gone for almost two days already, and Severus, during that time, neither slept nor relaxed in any way. He had spent the better part of the weekend, and Monday morning in Dumbledore's office, pacing a hole in the floor, worried out of his mind. Albus had taken over classes for him and made sure that the house elves made him eat something so that he wouldn't get sick.

Severus had pleaded to Albus countless times to let him go after Hermione and bring her back to him. Even after three notes threatening terrible things, Dumbledore refused to let him get in over his head.

'I can not just sit here while Hermione is being tortured by that foul monster!' he fumed in frustration. 'And trust me; he will be doing just that.'

'Hermione is a capable witch. Give her more credit to take care of herself for just a little longer,' Albus reasoned.

But Snape was having none of it. He wanted to kill Lucius Malfoy and bring Hermione back to him. He needed her. He didn't merely want her. In the time since her return to Hogwarts for her final year, Hermione had enchanted and ensnared him, befriended him and he loved her more than his words could ever express.

'Albus, I have to go. You can't stop me. I have to bring Hermione back,' he said as he headed towards the fireplace finally.

'I won't stop you.'

Snape nodded sharply and grabbed floo powder, throwing it into the fire and stepping into the green flames, going to his rooms. He tore his robes when he got there and undid the first few button of his frock coat, before leaving the rooms and walking briskly to another side door of the castle. He walked directly towards the Forbidden Forest to that one spot that he hadn't dared use as an Apparation point since his service as a spy on the Dark Lord for the Order.

He had no choice but to use it then. He needed to move as fast as he could to get to Hermione. He Disapparated from there and appeared at the front step of Malfoy Manor where he disabled a few simple wards and entered the house without thinking about the potential dangers of it. He managed to pass without any detection.

He was going to have to leave Malfoy a reminder to actually fix his wards so that they kept intruders out one day. Walking through the entrance hall and the ground floor, he found that it was all rather deserted. He muttered a detection spell, which alerted him to two presences in the house.

One was upstairs and the other beneath his feet in the Dungeon most likely.

Malfoy's cellar and dungeons were noticeably the most guarded parts of the entire Manor, and why not? Everything of worth in his life was there – his drink and the storage facility for all of his innocent victims. Severus knew he would need a Malfoy to disarm the family wards down there. And he knew just where to find one. He allowed his tracking spell to lead him up the stairs and to the end room, where he found his little helper.

He found her sitting by the window in a rocking chair, staring out at the evening sky, which was like night because of the rain clouds looming, threatening rain.

'Narcissa,' he said clearly.

She started a little and turned to look at him with the most horrible face he had ever seen of hers. She was usually quite a pretty woman, but now her eyes were tired, the dark shadows beneath them were obvious, and she seemed withdrawn. 'Lucius is out I'm afraid,' she said dully.

Of course Lucius was out. It was a Monday evening and all that he had at his own home was a scrawny half-starved wife and a Muggle born girl too filthy for a pureblood like him to touch. 'I didn't come for fucking Lucius,' he said coldly. 'I came to get the girl back.'

'What girl?'

'Oh, don't play coy, Narcissa. You know very well that your husband has abducted one of my students. I came to return her to Hogwarts,' he snapped, piercing her with dark, stormy eyes.

'You really care about her don't you?' Narcissa stated, and when he did not answer her, she simply rose from her seat. 'I am not to be blamed for anything that happened to her. I will let you take her; but you must promise me something.'

'Name it and I shall do my best,' he replied without giving it a second thought.

'I need protection. I don't care who it is, I just can't stay here like this any more. Lucius will kill me, Severus. He beat me, raped me and destroyed me,' she pleaded, grabbing the arm of his coat and holding tightly to his arm.

'Come then and release my student, and you may return to Hogwarts with me,' he answered, shaking her off his arm.

'Alright.'

Narcissa led the way down to the dungeons, hurrying ahead of the man that followed her and had desperately demanded the release of the Muggle born girl that her husband had abducted. They reached the dungeons, and it was only a matter of muttering the password and running a finger along the spine of a book to enter the series of prisoner cells beneath the Malfoy Manor.

She grabbed the set of keys from a hook that was in the shape of a snake, and rushed towards the cell that she knew her husband would put the Muggle born girl. He would put her in the coldest, most horrible cell, and make her suffer. The girl would be lucky if she hadn't been raped. Narcissa knew what it was like to be raped by her own husband. The thought of it made her sick.

She wordlessly thrust the key into the hole, and turned it frantically. 'Severus, she'll be in bad shape. This is the worst cell that we have…' she explained as the many locks clicked open.

The final lock came apart, and Snape pushed right past her to get to Hermione, the only thing that he could hear was his voice telling him that this was his entire fault. He threw open the door, and looked around the cell, only to find her huddled in a corner in the fetal position, shivering from the icy coldness of the room. It was a surprise that she hadn't died from the cold alone.

He ran straight to her, and checked her pulse, which was weak at best, before tearing off his frock coat and wrapping as much of Hermione as he cold in it. He then picked her up in his arms, and turned to find Narcissa looking shocked – a pale ghostly colour too. 'Hurry up then,' he growled. 'We should leave before Lucius returns.'

She nodded. 'We can take the bottom passage,' she said, yanking the keys from the door, and indicating that they should leave.

Severus muttered a warming charm, and felt Hermione's body heat begin to return to something at least a little bit acceptable. They arrived at the exit, and Narcissa flung it open, and allowed him to precede her.

'Grab onto my arm, 'Cissa,' he said hoarsely, before Apparating them away.

They reappeared at the edge of the Forbidden forest, and together ran all the way to the door hidden on the side of the castle; the entrance to the Dungeons. They hurried to his office, where he rested Hermione on his couch and summoned a bottle of warming potion, and pressed it to her lips, massaging her throat so that she swallowed the liquid and began to warm up.

'Narcissa, Floo to Albus' office and alert him that I have returned with Hermione, and shall take her to the Hospital wing immediately,' he barked, and he picked Hermione's delicate form up once more to take her to said destination.

The older woman nodded, and they went their separate ways. Snape practically ran through the halls, desperate to get the woman he no doubt loved some medical attention. She was going to live, and that was all that kept him going at full speed, without caring what the students milling around were saying. He cared very little for his reputation at that point – Hermione was all that mattered.

He strode purposefully up stairs, skipping some and barging through groups of students who gasped. He must have take at least 100 points altogether from students who were stupid enough not to get out of the way. And then the worst thing that could have happened occurred just as he rounded the corner, with the doors to the hospital wing looming just ahead. Potter came at him with his wand pointed directly at him and a fierce glare on his face.

'What have you done to her you bastard?!' Harry yelled venomously.

'I found her in Lucius Malfoy's dungeons, or had you not noticed that your best friend has been missing for over twenty four hours? Now get out of my way, she needs Madam Pomfrey!' Severus bellowed at him, brushing past without another word.

But the boy persisted. 'I thought she was just sick and decided to take a day off,' Harry defended himself. 'Professor Dumbledore said…'

'He told you that so you would not worry and run off foolishly as you have been known to do in the past,' Snape snapped at his strode through the infirmary doors. 'Poppy! Get in here now! I have a student that needs urgent medical attention!'

The Matron rushed out in a tizzy, but as soon as she spotted a cold, unconscious Hermione wet an shivering in an equally wet and disheveled Potion Master's arms, she had a serious face, and led the way to the nearest bed. Snape followed and gently lay Hermione down, gently pulling his soaked coat off of her, followed by her school robes so that there was less wet clothing making her colder. Madam Pomfrey returned not long after with a Hospital gown, and drew the privacy curtain, sending Snape to collect some Potions while she changed the girl.

When Severus returned from the Potions store, he found Potter looming just outside of the curtain, a worried expression on his face, as he paced along outside. Severus merely frowned, and continued to Hermione.

'Professor, how is she?' Harry asked urgently.

'I don't know,' he replied automatically just as he reached the curtain. 'But I can assure you that she will not die… I would not allow it.'

The boy nodded, and he slipped past the curtain and found the Matron bathing the girls face and neck with a cloth. 'Poppy, I have what you asked for,' he said simply, sitting on the other side of the bed next to Hermione. 'Would you like me to give her the Potions while you clean her?'

'Do please,' she said sternly. 'She's running a fever so she'll need all the help she can get. And she appears to have a few broken ribs, so please attend to those when you are finished.'

Snape swallowed and measured out each Potion before giving them to her, and then carefully feeling around her rib cage with the only thing separating their skin being the linen hospital robe. He found three broken ribs and healed them quickly. Poppy cast a full body analysis charm and found that her body was mostly fine aside from the fever and how tired she was that she was still unconscious.

'How is she Poppy?'

'She'll survive. She's a fighter, this Hermione,' the witch replied with a smile at the younger man. She knew that the girl had changed him. 'You care about her, don't you Severus?'

'Am I that transparent?'

'Not to just anyone, as I'm sure Albus and Minerva have told you, but I have known you since you were an eleven year old child, and I saw you quite a lot more than the majority of the students in your year,' she said softly.

He groaned at the memories. 'Don't remind me. I prefer to keep those kinds of memories in the Penseive I keep locked up at Gringotts,' he said curtly.

'I didn't mean to bring up your childhood boy, but I merely wanted to point out the difference between how you were before the seventh years returned, to how you are today,' she said gently. 'You have never looked happier than you have in the few months.'

'She is a witch worth changing for Poppy,' he said quietly. 'However, I must ask you; how long do you think she will have to remain here in the Hospital wing?'

'As long as it takes for her to fully recover,' she said. 'When she wakes up we will have a better idea of how healed her body is, and how long it will take for her to recuperate and remember everything.'

'You never asked what happened to her,' Snape pointed out.

'I'm sure you will tell me when you are ready,' the older witch said with a knowing smile. 'I must go back to my office in case any other students are in need of attention. I shall return in an hour to check.'

'Very well, go to your dunderheaded patients,' he said drolly, waving her away dismissively as he stood from the bed, pulled a chair up, and sat down heavily, leaning his elbows on the bed, and putting his head in his hands. Gods, he was so tired, but he wouldn't sleep until she woke up.

He sighed and looked up at her face, her face mostly neutral except from her eyebrows that were contorted into a frown. She was shivering, so he pulled up a cover over her, and hoped to sweat the fever out of her. His mother used to do the same for him when he was a child, and he would use those skills to help Hermione recover.

He heard the curtain shift a little from someone entering, and looked up to see both Albus and Minerva standing before him with worried expressions, yet they smiled at him as if to say "Well done".

'How is she?' Minerva asked softly.

'She has a fever, but it should pass. Poppy and I healed all of her other injuries,' he answered carefully. 'She'll be fine when she wakes up.'

'Thank you for going for her, my boy. I can imagine that if you had not acted as you did, Miss Granger would not have survived,' Albus said in thanks.

'How is Narcissa?' he asked.

'She is fine – traumatized, but well. I have put her in the guest suite next to Minerva's chambers so that Minerva can take care of her while she recovers from her abuse,' Albus replied sadly.

Severus nodded, and looked back at Hermione. _Please wake up love…_

A/N – I know it has been ages since my last update, but cut me some slack… I get writers block all of the time. This chapter originally didn't end this way, and it was only after copious amounts of reading and re-reading that I came up with this. I hope you're enjoying the story so far… Brandy.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

The thunder had not broke the silence of the air for two days now, and the clouds, instead of pouring rain, had become thick and ever-present, blocking out the sun. Winter was approaching rather quickly, and the snow would begin to fall any day now. Students were already beginning to make their Christmas holiday plans even though the vacation didn't begin for another few weeks. But one student in the castle hadn't been able to wake up, let along think about hat she would do on the holidays.

Hermione had still not come out of her coma, due to her body's need to restore itself, and Poppy Pomfrey suggested that Hermione was simply too afraid of the pain she would feel. Sure – there would be a little pain initially, but that would pass. Harry had been in every break with the annoying Longbottom boy, and he also returned on his own after dinner for half an hour every night that she had been in the coma, which was almost a week ago then.

The Malfoy's had been arrested, but it was only after Lucius had been convicted did they find out that Draco had been under the influence of Imperious, and that as why he had attacked Hermione. Had had been let off but was on probation until the Ministry decided that he had been a good boy. Oddly enough, he accepted his responsibilities for what had happened and apologized to Hermione when he sat by her bed in the morning for a few moments, before a haggard-looking Snape would enter the Hospital Wing and send him off to class.

Severus himself spent a lot of time in the evenings after dinner, simply sitting by Hermione's bedside, willing her to wake up, while reading to her from various academic journals he had. When it started to get late, he would take her hand in his and kiss it, before resting his head on his arms on an edge of her bed, and close his eyes so that he could get a couple of hours sleep before returning t his chambers, getting cleaned up and returning to Hermione with a nutrient potion.

'Severus, you need to stop doing this to yourself,' Poppy said from the doorway of the private room Hermione had been placed in.

He finished giving Hermione her morning dosage and set the vial aside carefully, and turning to the Mediwitch. 'I don't know what you mean by that, Poppy, but I can assure you that there is nothing wrong with me,' he stated coolly.

'You're not sleeping properly, you're barely eating and you spend more time in here than you do teaching,' she said gently, walking over to him and resting a hand on his arm in a motherly way. 'You need to get some decent sleep.'

'I won't leave her alone, Poppy. I need to be here when she wakes up,' Severus insisted through gritted teeth.

'While I'm sure Hermione would appreciate the sentiment, she would not want to see you harming yourself like this. Stop torturing and blaming yourself for what happened,' Poppy reasoned sternly.

'It is my fault!' he snapped.

Poppy shook her head. 'Does she know how you feel about her?' she asked softly, noticing the younger man tense at her question. 'Don't try to deny it Severus. I know you love her.'

'Poppy… it doesn't…'

'Stop that nonsense right now Severus Snape,' she ordered seriously. 'I will not allow you back in this room until tomorrow morning. If you have not slept, I will not let you in to see her.'

Snape glowered at her and crossed his arms. 'Very well Ma'am. I shall do as you say, however, if you do not allow me to come tomorrow, I may be forced to resort to drastic measures,' he said in a clipped tone, before striding out of the room without another word, most likely to get back to his chambers to vent his anger so that he seemed unfazed to his students.

Poppy shook her head, sighing softly to herself, when she heard a cough from the other side of the room. She turned and looked to see Harry standing there with his book bag over his shoulder, and his arms folded over his chest. 'Good morning Madam Pomfrey,' he said politely.

'Mr. Potter, just how long have you been here?' she asked with a slightly worried expression on her face. How much had the boy heard? Severus was not going to be pleased by this.

'Save it Madam Pomfrey. I heard the whole conversation, and I promise not to say anything to anyone else about it,' Harry said sincerely with a heavy sigh as if a heavy burden weighed on his chest. 'I think it was always going to turn out like this. Hermione's more mature than everyone else…'

'You believe Miss Granger returns Severus' feelings?' she asked in surprise.

'I think she has for quite a while now. He isn't as bad to us as he used to be, I suppose. But it's still Snape, and it will take some time to get used to it,' Harry admitted with a small smile. 'How is she today?'

Poppy smiled at the boy. He had come so far. 'She seems to be recuperating steadily. All that will need to happen is for her to wake up,' she replied evenly.

'Thank you,' Harry said, before dropping a kiss to Hermione's forehead and walking out of the room without another word.

It was still about an hour before classes were due to begin for the day, so instead of going to breakfast, Harry made a detour towards the Headmaster's office. He spoke the password, "Gummi Bears" to the stone gargoyle and stepped onto the spiraling stairs that took him to the top of the tower in which Dumbledore's office resided. He knocked on the office door, and waited to hear the soft "come in" before entering.

When he entered, he was surprised to see Professor McGonagall taking tea with the Headmaster by the office fireplace. 'Good morning, Professor's,' Harry greeted politely with a nod.

'Ah, Harry my boy, come and have a seat and join us for some tea,' Albus spoke softly to the younger man.

Harry complied and took the armchair across from his two favourite Professors', accepting the cup of tea that McGonagall levitated his way. He took a small sip, before clearing his throat and finally looking up at them.

'You probably already know what this is about,' Harry said quietly, nervously fingering the teaspoon. He wasn't sure why he wasn't mad yet, but expected that it would kick in eventually.

'We are both aware that you now know that Professor Snape has feelings for Miss Granger,' Dumbledore said kindly. 'Harry, tell me true – are you angered by any of this so far?'

Harry thought about it for a while, before simply shaking his head as a negative. 'I thought I would be, but I'm not really. I was upset when Sn – Professor Snape brought Hermione back to the castle all sick, but I don't really mind that he l-loves her,' Harry replied with a thick swallow. 'I'm not sure if it has really kicked in yet though.'

'I am glad that you are taking this all rather well, Harry. It seems the war has matured you rather spectacularly,' Albus noted proudly, and Minerva, who had not yet spoken beside him nodded.

'I agree that you seem to be handling this sudden information well, yet I sense that this was not the only thing you wished to discuss,' Minerva spoke gently.

Harry nodded and swallowed again to clear his tightening throat. 'Hermione… does she l-love Professor Snape too?' he asked nervously. He wasn't sure he was going to like the answer much, but he was going to accept it for her sake.

Dumbledore smiled. 'I believe that she does Harry. But do not think that she and Severus have been having a relationship. So far, it has only developed into a tentative friendship,' he said somberly, willing Harry to remain calm. 'But I can tell that this horrible even will bring them a lot closer.'

'You approve of it then?' Harry asked.

'Both Professor McGonagall and I will openly accept any such relationship. Severus has had a hard life and has been too lonely for too many years. Hermione will be good for him,' Dumbledore spoke. 'Meanwhile, I feel that while Hermione is still young, she has surpassed many of her contemporaries in knowledge and maturity. She could never be labeled an equal to any of your year.'

Harry nodded, and then had a sudden thought at this and grinned. 'Poor, poor Neville will be heart broken when he finds out,' he mused quietly.

This drew a small snort from the usually sophisticated McGonagall, and Dumbledore began to chuckle softly. 'Fear not for young Mr. Longbottom, Harry. I think he realizes that Hermione is too far out of his reach,' Dumbledore said between soft snorts of laughter.

'He's always had such abysmal luck with girls,' Harry said distantly. 'I think I had better go now though,' he added, standing form his seat and returning his empty tea cup to the coffee table, wondering when he had managed to drink all of it while they had been talking.

'Have a good day, Harry,' Dumbledore said in farewell as Harry smiled and waved before leaving through the way he had come.

He made his way to the classroom he had for first period and met Neville with Luna there, who looked up at him and smiled. 'Hi guys,' he said with a wide grin, kissing Luna on the cheek in greeting.

Luna blushed a little and smiled. 'You didn't go to breakfast Harry. That's not like you.' She said softly, returning his affectionate gesture with an embrace.

'I went to visit Hermione earlier on, and then had tea with Professors' Dumbledore and McGonagall,' he replied, noting Neville's discomfort at his and Luna's physical display of their regard for each other.

'Alright, well I have Transfiguration,' Luna announced, with a dreamy look in her eyes all of the sudden. 'I'll see you both later.'

Harry nodded and watched her as she left and rounded the corner. By then, the class had begun to move into the room as Professor Flitwick delivered instructions on what they had to do once they entered the room. He sat with Neville, Dean and Seamus, and the lesson soon passed fairly quickly without any dramas.

The rest of the day seemed to fly past in a haze for Harry, and before he knew it, it was the last lesson for the day, and ironically, it was Potions with Snape. He had heard during Lunch from some of the younger students that Snape was in a highly agitated mood that day, and had been deducting house points from anyone who dared to disrupt his lesson – even his precious Slytherin's weren't safe from the wrath of an angry Potions Master that day.

While nobody really took notice of a difference in his behavior, Harry noticed everything that had been going on and knew why. He was upset that he had been thrown out of the Hospital Wing for the night, he was tired from a lack of sleep, and the woman he loved was unconscious lying in said Hospital Wing. Harry had felt just as helpless as that once – when Ginny had died. He understood why Snape felt like it was his fault that Hermione got hurt.

He had known the same emotion when he had been unable to save Ginny from her death at the hands of an unknown Death Eater. Hermione had been kidnapped by a former Death Eater, who had not reformed even after the war, and had been tortured and left for dead in a cell to freeze. If Harry knew one thing about the Potions Master, it was that he felt like shit that Hermione was unconscious.

'Get out your books and turn to page 679,' Snape said briskly as he entered the classroom, his robes billowing around him.

Everyone did as they were told, and followed the instructions he wrote on the board, simply reading the text in preparation for the homework essay that he had set for them on the various types of fern that could be used in Potions. Harry kept his head down, and mouth shut the whole time, until they were finally released for the day with a six inch essay due at the end of the week.

As he packed up all of his things to leave, Harry spotted Snape still sitting at his desk with a sneer firmly on his lips and his eyes scanning a book on his desk. He told Neville to go on without him, and with his bag over his shoulder, made his way cautiously towards the unhappy man.

'Professor Snape?' he asked carefully, not wanting to make the irritable man any more so than he was.

Snape looked up at him briefly and glared before returning his attention to the book in front of him without looking at Harry again. 'What do you want Potter?' he asked in a bored tone.

'I came to talk to you about Hermione,' he replied, swallowing nervously.

Snape looked up at him then, his expression the same, but curiosity and surprise flashing in his eyes. 'Why would you want to discuss Miss Granger with me?' he asked slowly, closing the book.

Harry took a deep breath and got ready to see this through before he lost his nerve. 'Look, Professor, I know about you and Hermione being friends, and I know that you care for her. I just wanted to come here to tell you that I don't mind, and that I wanted to lend you this,' Harry said quickly, pulling his invisibility cloak out of his bag and thrusting it towards Snape on the desk.

Snape eyed it warily and fingered it for a moment before realisation dawned in his eyes. 'Why would you give me this, Potter?' he demanded.

'I heard what Madam Pomfrey told you this morning, and I know that if it were me, I would not be pleased either. I just wanted to give you the option of seeing her at least for a little while today,' he explained honestly.

Snape schooled his expression to vague disinterest, but picked the cloak up nonetheless. He really didn't not want to be in debt to another Potter; especially his own student. 'I appreciate your gesture Potter, but what could possibly be your motivation behind such an act? Are you trying to bribe me for better marks in class?' he suggested with a glint in his black eyes.

Harry shook his head. 'I don't want anything from you. I just want you to take care of Hermione and treat her right. She's the only one that I have, and she deserves to be happy,' he replied sincerely. 'Besides, I know how you feel, sir. You feel like it's your entire fault. Trust me – I was like that once, but it is a hell of a lot easier to accept that it was only partially your fault, than to dwell with your guilt.'

Snape's eyebrow lifted a little at that, but he nodded anyway. 'Thank you Potter,' he said quietly. 'I will do my best.'

'Good…' Harry said, before turning and leaving the classroom wordlessly, pleased and knowing that he had done the right thing.

'Bloody Gryffindor's,' Severus muttered under his breath.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve

There was a pale light filtering in through the window – or was that just a lamp? She couldn't really tell through her temporarily blurred eyes. She blinked a few times to clear them, and finally was able to determine that it was a window, and the reason why the light inside was pale. It was snowing, and there was plenty of it covering everything in sight. Slowly, she rolled onto her side, but found that tiring even. Sighing, she gave up and turned to stared at the ceiling once more.

She had an idea that she was in the Hospital Wing at Hogwarts, but was quite unsure as to how she got there. She wanted to say something, but her throat was too dry. She wanted to get out of bed, but her body was too stiff, too sore and felt like it had been unused to walking for quite some time. She swallowed dryly, and then turned onto her other side, only to be confronted with the sight of black hair, roughly pulled back at the nape of a man's neck.

She slowly slid her hand towards the hair, and fingered it lightly. It was soft and cool, and silky – not oily. She knew that hear, and the pale skin, and those damnable repressed black robes coat. Severus was here with her. He had his head rested on his arms, which were resting on the edge of her bed. She hoped that how ever long she had been there, that he had not done this every night.

Letting her hand fall, she reached out to run her fingers over his arm, and tried to use what little energy she had to wake him. Despite wanting him to sleep, she really needed some water. She nudged him just a little, and he jolted to a sitting position, and his eyes snapped open. She looked up at him and offered him a weak smile, making his eyes widen noticeably.

'Hermione…?' he asked quietly.

She nodded and pointed towards the water jug on a nightstand nearby. '…water…' she croaked out in barely a whisper.

He got up and hurried to comply, pouring a liberal amount of water into a glass, and then returning to sit beside her on the bed, using his free hand to lift her into a reclined position on the pillows. He brought the glass to her lips and tipped it so that she could drink, but not take too much at the same time. When she had enough, he set the glass aside and continued to sit beside her.

'Can I get you anything else?' he asked softly, and she shook her head. 'Are you sore anywhere?'

'…no – I'm fine,' she said in a rough, yet weak voice. 'How long have I been here?'

He closed his eyes for a moment and released a heavy sigh. 'About three weeks. You've been unconscious the whole time,' he replied with hesitance, but when he saw that she was not too upset, pressed on. 'Lucius Malfoy kidnapped you while we were in Hogsmeade. You wee found unconscious in his dungeons…'

'What became of him?'

'He was sentenced to Azkaban for life,' Snape said softly, taking her small, frail hand into his and giving a gentle squeeze. 'Never fear that he will hurt you again.'

Hermione swallowed thickly as she tried to process everything she had just been told and looked to where his hand was holding hers. Did she even dare to think he cared for her? Why was he here? Where were Harry and Neville?

'Your friends are in Gryffindor Tower, sleeping, I believe,' he said as if he had known what she was thinking. 'It is quite late.'

'Please tell me that you did not stay here every night of the three weeks,' she said quietly, looking down in case she had made the wrong assumption. 'You look like you haven't had a decent night of sleep in months.'

He chuckled softly and released her hand. 'Well at least now I know how terrible I look,' he commented idly. 'I won't answer that because you're not going to like it.'

And that was when she saw it. The cloak folded neatly on the top of a cabinet nearby. She had been under that cloak too many times to not know what it was and who it belonged to. 'Why do you have Harry's invisibility cloak?' she asked.

'Ah yes… Mr. Potter saw fit to let me make use of it to come here. I was banned from the Hospital Wing by Madam Pomfrey,' he explained with a twinkle in his black eyes. 'I shouldn't really be here now…'

'Oh… Severus, why did you do it?' she whispered.

'Because you are my friend,' he said in an equally quite voice, looking into her eyes and reaching a hand out to cup her cheek gently. 'I couldn't bear to see anything happen to you… I had to come for you.'

Hermione swallowed thickly, but the tears still sprung from her eyes and slid down her cheek, or fell onto his hand. 'Thank you, Severus,' she said with a heaving sob, before she broke down and began to cry in earnest.

Severus wrapped his arms around her to hold her and stroke her hair and back gently as she cried. She had been so strong, but it was only natural to have an emotional reaction to this sort of traumatic experience. He tried to soothe and calm her down, whispering small words of comfort into her hair as she clung to him and cried for every bad thing that had happened to her. She didn't deserve any of this – she was innocent and good for god's sake. She was only eighteen!

And then it struck him. Despite Minerva and Albus both supporting and encouraging his feelings for Hermione, not to mention Potter's acceptance of it, he knew that the rest of the Wizarding world might feel differently. Sighing heavily, he decided to disregard that for a little while longer. Hermione was back, and he needed to be there for her if she needed him.

'…Severus…' Hermione whispered softly.

He loosened his arms and tipped her chin up so that she could see his face and know that he was listening to her. 'What is it Hermione?'

'I don't want you to blame yourself for one second. What happened to me was Lucius Malfoy's fault. He did this to me, not you,' she said firmly, though croakily.

He wanted to argue, but he knew that he could do no such thing to this witch. 'I know Hermione,' he said softly. 'Lucius can not harm you and longer.'

'How did you find me?' she asked.

'I bargained with Narcissa. Your return for her safety,' he answered simply. 'Don't blame her for what happened, Hermione. She's just as much a victim as you - Draco too. He didn't try to harm you intentionally.'

'I understand. I saw what he did to her. He hit her in front of me and took her wand saying that he would break it,' Hermione said with a catch to her voice. 'I know Malfoy didn't do it on purpose. I knew there was something up.'

'Good. I am glad that you understand and that you are taking this all so well,' he said with a hidden pride in his voice.

Hermione smiled a little, and hugged him around the waist, burying her face in his shoulder and inhaling his clean, spicy scent. She couldn't believe that it had been so long since she had smelled him. She had been out for three weeks, and had left him to worry and fret that it was his fault. With that thought, she began to feel sleepy, and closed her eyes, relaxing in his embrace and letting sleep claim her.

Severus noticed her relax more, and when he looked to check, she had fallen asleep from exhaustion. She hadn't had a natural sleep in a long time, and after all of this information being given to her and the added strain of crying, she was beat. He gently eased her out of his arms and slipped her back into a laying position on the bed, drawing the covers up to her neck. He leaned down and allowed himself to kiss her forehead, brushing curls out of her closed eyes.

He then proceeded to gather Potter's cloak and threw it over himself so that he could exit the Hospital Wing unseen, and then went straight towards Albus' office. He knew the old man would be awake. It seemed as though the old man hardly needed to sleep at all or something of the like. He smiled to himself – he was not so different from the daft, beloved old man in that aspect.

He made it past the Gargoyle and ascended the stairs as quickly as he could, not wanting to waste another minute to tell the Headmaster what had happened. He burst through the office doors and threw the cloak off as quickly as possible. 'Albus!' he called when he couldn't see him anywhere.

'I'm up here my boy,' said Albus' voice from the loft above.

Severus pushed past the curtain hiding the staircase to the loft, and climbed two at a time so that he could get to him quickly, the invisibility cloak slung over his arm. 'Albus, you need to tell Poppy that Hermione has woken! She's had water and was weeping for a time, before she fell asleep again,' he said quickly.

'Calm down, my boy. Poppy has already discovered Miss Granger, and quite aware that she was not alone when she woke up,' Albus said in a soothing tone. 'Now sit down and have a cuppa.'

'Poppy knew that I was in the Hospital Wing?'

'Not until recently, no – but she has allowed you to stay there anyway. She was in her office when Hermione woke and is now taking care of her as we speak,' he replied evenly with a smile, levitating a cup of tea to him.

'How long will Hermione have to stay in that room?' Severus asked, pinching the bridge of his nose and sighing.

'Until she is able to walk on her own and feed herself,' Albus replied. 'But I might be convinced if another option for where she stays as she gets better comes about,' he added suggestively.

'If you are implying…'

'I was not implying anything, Severus,' Albus cut across him coolly. 'I was simply stating that your chambers may be a slightly more interesting place fore her to reside during her recovery. She will have books and company there. And you know how Miss Granger loves to study and will be in a dither when she finds out how much class works she has missed,' Albus reasoned.

Severus smirked at that. 'Yes, she does have a bit of a habit, doesn't she? Well I suppose if Poppy were happy, and if Hermione wanted to, she would be welcome to occupy the guest bedroom,' he said hesitantly. 'I do believe that she will be straight into those essays the moment she is able to write again.'

Albus chuckled. 'That's the spirit, my boy,' he said, and then a thought occurred to him. 'You will allow her friends to visit in the afternoons will you not?'

Severus held up the invisibility cloak and closed his eyes. 'It seems I will have no choice. I owe Mr. Potter a favor and I suppose that visiting rights will be at the top of his list,' Severus admitted with a scowl as Dumbledore snorted a laugh out.

'Well I should think that you will have to get used to Gryffindor's for company a lot more in the future Severus,' Albus said.

'If it makes Hermione happy…'

'I do believe that this is the largest sacrifice that you have ever made, my boy. You're becoming soft,' Albus said with glee, his eyes twinkling like mad. 'You really love her enough to put her happiness before your own?'

'I love her much more than that…' he said quietly, looking at his hands that were clasped tightly in his lap. 'She means more to me than my own life, Albus. She has brought meaning to my life, and I will be hard pressed to give her up if she would ever have me. I know she is young, but god help me, I will not see her in the arms of another… I – I never loved Lily as I do Hermione.'

Albus nodded understandingly. 'I know, my boy. You loved Lily as a sister. What you feel for Hermione is so much stronger than that,' he said gently.

Severus nodded, realizing that the Headmaster understood him better than he thought. But then again, he had always been insightful. He couldn't remember a time when the Headmaster didn't know about everything that went on inside the walls of Hogwarts, or even outside amongst his close contemporaries. He smiled inwardly at the thought of Albus actually not knowing something for once. One day – just one day, Severus promised to do just that.

He placed the tea cup in his hand back down on the coffee table from which it came and stood slowly, taking the invisibility cloak with him. 'I'm going to bed now Albus,' he announced going to the fire place and taking a pinch of Floo powder.

'Good idea. I hope that you get a good night sleep, if not for your sake, then for the sake of our colleagues and the students,' he said with a smile.

Severus almost smiled at that. He knew that he had been worse than usual in class and at meal times to the other Professor's. It was because he was worried and he hadn't been sleeping regularly again. He knew he would have to rectify that somewhat and at least try to be civil to his friends once more. With that thought, he threw the Floo powder into the fire and stepped into the green flames.

'Severus Snape's Private Quarters,' he announced clearly.

He disappeared and left Albus in the office loft on his own, smiling and eyes twinkling away like mad. He stood and went to the fire himself, and pinched the Floo powder before going from there to the Hospital wing. He arrived in Poppy's empty office and went straight to Hermione's room from there. When he walked in, he saw the Hermione sitting up, propped against pillows as Minerva fed her broth and Poppy rushed around collecting her Potions.

'Hermione, you have no idea how relieved we are that you have come back to us,' he said with a warm smile, going to sit next to Minerva on the bed. 'You have no idea how relieved Severus is…'

Hermione, although sick and weak, managed to blush still at the Headmaster's insinuations, almost choking on her broth. 'I am glad to be back, Professor,' she said croakily. It would take a couple of days for her voice to heal properly yet.

'Hermione, it's alright – we know you have feeling for Severus,' Minerva said softly as she spooned broth into Hermione's mouth. 'We want both of you to be happy, and I know that he makes you happy… He has never talked so much since you returned this year…'

'What are you saying that I should do?' Hermione asked quietly.

'Give him a chance, that's all…' Albus replied serenely.

A/N – Hey all these are my latest chapters. I hope you like them. I wrote the first part of the story before the release of the final book, but decided to finish it – but that might be a while yet. Please review – Brandy.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen

Unlike what most people believed, the chambers of Severus Snape were not itch black and filled with jars of bodily organs and other various disgusting things. In fact, there were windows there, and the rooms were warm and carpeted near the fireplaces. The study and library was amazing and he had more books than any normal person would. But that was just the way Hermione liked him; different from any other men. If he had been like the average man, she wouldn't love him.

She had been there for the past week, still unable to walk, but had regained the use of her arms and could feed herself and bathe herself. She had a charmed wheel chair for the time being, but she preferred to use it as little as possible. Having it made her feel useless. Luckily for her, she had been left all of the class work that she had missed, most of it just revision over things she already knew from reading so much, but still, something to keep her occupied when Severus was teaching.

She had never imagined that she would be staying here in his chambers, but was glad for it nonetheless. She would have died to boredom and monotony in the Hospital Wing, and Madam Pomfrey had agreed that it would be better if she could be left alone. Only Harry, Neville and Luna were really allowed to see her, and Draco had been by once to see how she was, but Severus had been there to keep an eye on him.

Sighing, she looked back down at her Transfiguration textbook and concentrated on the glass on the table in front of her. She was about to cast a charm to change it into a bird, when she felt something fluffy rubbing against her trousers. She looked down to see Crookshanks there purring.

'Hey, Crooks, how did you get in here?' she asked as she leaned down to pat her familiar's head.

'He wouldn't stop his infernal yowling, so Minerva more or less demanded that I bring him down here to his Mistress,' said a silky voice from the doorway behind her.

Hermione sat up and turned so that she could see Severus who was leaning his trim body against the doorway casually in his trousers, white linen shirt and black waistcoat. She smiled at him, and he smirked back at her. 'Hello Severus,' she said softly to her friend and Professor.

'Minerva was right, that orange ball of fur is far more docile with you. If he remains out of my way I may consider letting you keep him here also,' he said in reply. 'But we may have to lay down ground rules.'

Severus saw the cat look up at him indignantly and turn up his nose with a sniff, before returning to the task of enjoying his mistress' attention. Hermione smiled at the interaction, holding a hand out to the snarky Potions Master. He went straight to her then, and took her hand in his swiftly, sitting on the arm of the comfy couch and loosely draping his arm behind her.

'I am almost finished my Transfiguration for the day,' she commented idly, releasing his hand reluctantly. 'When I'm done can we go outside? Please Severus. I haven't been out of this castle for a month, and if I don't soon, I'll go berserk.'

He sighed in resignation. He would take her outside because he loved her and would do anything to please her. 'Alright, but don't bother with that homework. It's Saturday. Enjoy your weekend doing nothing and work during the school week,' he said firmly. 'And don't argue with that. You really need to get your priorities sorted out. It's not healthy to study all of the time. You need to relax and let your body relax. When you stress, it stresses your body too.'

Hermione pouted in a way that made him want to lean down and kiss that look off her face, but he couldn't. She only saw him as a friend, and it would have been a violation of the faith and trust she had in him. He shook his head and got up from the seat, picking Hermione up into his arms and helping to lower her into the wheel chair. He got her coat and gave it to her to put on while he went to find his frock coat and long winter jacket. If they were going for a walk out in the snow, then he certainly wasn't going to let either of them freeze for it.

'Ready to go?' he asked when he returned, fully dressed in totally black attire. Hermione, now wearing her long black winter coat and her ruby scarf, nodded in affirmation and smiled at him appreciatively.

'Ready when you are, Captain,' she proclaimed, nudging her fur ball of a familiar off her lap and wheeling towards him.

'Why do you insist on wheeling that thing the Muggle way? You have magic that will make it do all of that for you,' he asked curiously.

'Because I feel so useless in this thing as it is, and it would only be worse if I relied on magic to get myself around your chambers honestly,' she replied with a slight frown, 'I can't wait to be able to walk around again.'

'You will be able to walk again soon, I promise you that,' Severus said softly. 'I have been working on modifying a healing Potion that will restore the movement of your legs faster that normal.'

'Really? Oh Severus you didn't have to do that,' Hermione said, looking down at her lap nervously.

Severus went to her and tipped her chin up to face him. 'I promised to help you get better in any way that I can, and it has been keeping me occupied when I'm bored,' he said with a small smile, stepping back and moving behind the chair to grasp the handles.

He pushed Hermione out of his chambers and through the chillier dungeons to the side door exit there. It had been a useful exit for him in his spying days, and it would rove useful once again in its use as a door for Hermione and Severus to leave the castle without the students noticing their unusual relationship with each other. Hermione settled in and felt a warming charm wash over her and the chair.

As they moved along the path around the castle through the snow, Hermione wondered about the man pushing her along the path. Severus had given up part of his personal space to accommodate her without expecting anything in return. He had rescued her from Lucius Malfoy, he had rescued her at the Final Battle, he had nursed her back to health, he had stayed by her side, and he had offered her comfort, friendship and independence to do as she pleased.

He was honestly one of her very best friends if she were honest. He did everything for her and asked for nothing in return. Some days she swore that she saw something else glittering in his eyes apart from his general concern, but she usually brushed it off as a trick of the light. He couldn't have romantic feelings for her.

She often wished that he did though, for then her feelings would be returned. She had settled for friendship, but knew that her love would be unrequited. Minerva and Albus had hinted and then outright told her that Severus had feelings for her, but she somehow thought that their assumptions were wrong. He had never given her any indication that they should take their relationship further.

After all, it had only been two months really since they had begun their initially tedious friendship, and she did not want to loose what she already had.

'Severus?' she asked softly.

'Yes Hermione?' he answered.

'Do you think Harry and Luna could come by this afternoon? They owled me and said that I should ask you if it was alright,' she asked somewhat hesitantly.

'I believe that I have already stated that Potter and Miss Lovegood are welcome to come any time as long as they owl beforehand and let me know what they plan to do,' he replied briskly.

'Are you still sore that you owe Harry a favor for the whole cloak deal?' Hermione asked with a barely hidden grin and a laugh.

Severus grumbled from above her as they pushed along the path and had almost returned to where they had started. 'Perhaps I am just irked at the fact that I will be surrounded by Gryffindor's and Gryffindor sympathizers?' he suggested warily.

Hermione laughed at that. 'Severus Snape that is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard you say. You spend time with Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall all of the time, and I know for a fact that they are your best friends,' Hermione said with a cheeky grin up at him.

'They are not my best friends, you are my best friend,' he said softly. 'They are my family.'

Hermione felt her chest tighten at his nearly whispered words. She was always surprised by this side of her extremely complex Potions Master. He could be so terribly harsh and demanding, but he was still loving, caring and a loyal friend and colleague. It sounded as though Minerva and Albus were like his family in more ways than one. It touched her deeply that he considered her to be his best friend.

'That is possibly the sweetest thing you have ever said, Severus,' she admitted to him, flashing him a sweet smile before turning to face the right way as they re-entered the castle and got out of the chill.

'If you tell anyone, I will make sure you can not speak for the rest of the week,' he warned her teasingly.

'Nobody would believe me,' she said as they entered his chambers.

He nodded in concession. 'I will admit that I have built a rather distinguishable exterior for the outsiders to view,' he said simply.

Hermione laughed at the way he twisted words. 'Oh just admit it. You like being a horrible bastard to all of the poor Hufflepuff's and Ravenclaw's, not to mention us poor little Gryffindor's,' she teased.

He smirked as he scooped her out of the wheelchair and placed her back on the comfy lounge she had been seated on before they had left for their walk. 'I do not believe that in my lifetime, I have ever met a Gryffindor that is either poor or little,' he commented as he deposited her.

'I suppose you have me there,' she agreed.

'That I do,' he murmured, gazing down at her face that was flushed a little from the cool air outside, her curls loosely pulled back in a braid with some escaping the confines of the plait. She was so beautiful. 'Now would you like some tea? I'm putting on the kettle, so it's your choice really.'

'How about some cocoa -- If you don't mind that is,' she answered, flushing a little for asking him that.

He simply smiled at her a little and turned to go to his kitchen. 'Cocoa with marshmallows it is then,' he said as he walked away.

Hermione grinned. He knew how she liked to take all of her drinks now. He knew that she liked a spoon of sugar and cream in her coffee, that she liked Jasmine tea in the mornings, and Lapsang to help her sleep at night, that she took marshmallows in her hot cocoa and that she didn't talk in the mornings until after she had at least one good cup of strong coffee.

Actually, that had worked out rather well for both of them on weekends when they ate together in the mornings. He wasn't a talker either until he had at least two cups. They got along remarkably well in fact. Hermione thought that her presence would be an annoyance or an intrusion, but they had not argued once, and he did not seem to be bored with her presence.

'One hot cocoa, with that absurdly disgusting Muggle confectionary floating around in it,' Severus announced as he entered the room levitating a tray with him, settling it on the coffee table after moving some of her books.

Hermione giggle a little at his description of the marshmallows. He really did come up with some rather creative names to call things that he didn't particularly take a liking to – for instance marshmallows, and Crookshanks, the "ginger fur ball of a familiar". She liked it – it was very characteristic of him.

'Thank you, Severus. I know how you detest it, and the effort is sincerely appreciated,' she said with a sweet smile that she knew would make him cave.

He sighed. 'Anything to make you comfortable,' he said drolly.

He seated himself on the couch opposite her and began partaking in the tea that he had made for himself as she sipped at the cocoa. After a while sitting in companionable silence, he decided that it was time for one of them to say something.

'So what are you working on?'

'Extra credit for Transfiguration,' she replied. 'I'm researching charms that transform anything into small birds. I've figured out everything except for the part where I actually change objects into the birds. I can conjure them out of nothing easily, but I can't seem to get it to change the objects I concentrate on.'

'That sounds impressive,' he said seriously. Honestly, this girl was amazing. She was already certainly going to get the highest mark in that class. What was she doing extra credit for?

'And I was going to talk to you about doing extra credit for Potions as well. I have already finished my revision and catch-up for everything this week, and I've run out of things to occupy me. So I'd like to do something, and I think Potions would be interesting for me to do,' she explained. 'Besides, Potions is my best subject before Arithmancy and Transfiguration.'

Severus took in everything she had just said and then processed it into his own language, which involved a few less words. 'Alright, what did you have in mind to do?' he asked curiously.

'Well, now that you mention it, I really don't know what I could do,' she said, blushing a little for not having thought that through.

'I have an idea for you, and it would most likely end up getting you many offers to apprentice with Potions masters all over Europe if you get it right,' he said hesitantly, looking at her face to see what her expressions were saying.

'What do you have in mind?'

'Well, as I mentioned earlier, I was working on a Potion to heal injuries and restore movements faster, but it could lead on to more,' he explained carefully. 'You see, if somehow, someone were to find a cure for long-term injuries and illnesses, they would be extremely sought after.'

'You think I could do that?' she asked in surprise.

'I don't think it Hermione, I know you could do it,' he said confidently. 'In fact, I have done research on it, and I think it would be interesting to have another perspective on it. What do you think?'

'You want me to work with you on it?'

'We would share the rights and outcome if we were successful, and any reproductions of it would have to have rights of sale and reproduction from us,' he said with an almost excited hint to his voice.

She gave him a look as if she were going to contemplate it over time, before suddenly smiling at him and nodding emphatically. 'I would love to, Severus,' she said in an excited tone.

Relief tore through him at that. He was so sure she would have rejected his offer.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen

The Christmas vacation had snuck in rather quickly that year, and soon students were readying to get on their way home or simply away for the holidays. Neville was going home to his Nan, Luna was going to stay with Harry and the Weasley's who had invited Hermione also, but she had decided against it. There were already enough bad memories in her mind concerning that family, and Hermione wasn't sure if she could handle going back there just yet.

Besides, she wasn't sure if she would see Severus at all over those two weeks, and didn't even want to test that theory. She was still quite fond of living in his chambers, and spending time with him when he wasn't busy, or when they both weren't working on the special task they had set for themselves. Although she had to admit it was wonderful to be around him then, discussing intellectual things that Hermione enjoyed far better than talking about the best Quidditch team, or the latest broom on the market.

That morning, she had left the Dungeons in her wheel chair and levitated herself up the stairs with a disillusionment charm on her so that nobody could see her when she was saying goodbye to her friends for the holiday. It had been a little sad to think that she would not see them for two weeks almost.

'Hermione you take care of yourself, alright?' Harry said as he hugged her, wary of making sure that people didn't think he was going mad, hugging thin air, or so it seemed to them at least.

'I promise Harry, besides, I have Professor Snape,' she said smiling at her brother. 'He takes good care of me.'

Luna grinned at that. 'I hope you have a lovely holiday, Hermione,' she said softly, hugging her tightly and letting go when Hermione indicated that she needed to breathe some more.

Neville had already left with his Nan, so Hermione watched Harry and Luna head towards the rest of the group as they made to depart for Hogsmeade station to catch the train back to London where they would be picked up by the Weasley's. Sighing, she headed back towards the dungeons and levitated herself back down the stairs wandlessly. When she reached the bottom, she remove the disillusionment charm and began to roll herself back in the direction of Severus' chambers.

When she took down the wards and entered, she was immediately assailed by a rather anxious-looking Severus, who was hugging her and sighing heavily. 'Thank goodness,' he murmured. 'Where on earth did you go?'

'To say goodbye to Harry and Luna,' she replied. 'Sorry if I scared you.'

'Well just let me know where you're off to next time. I just came in and you were gone,' he said, releasing her from his grip and settling to kneel in front of her. 'I came to tell you that I've done it.'

'Done what?'

'Well I found an ingredient to add to the Potion I was modifying for you. It worked and now if you take this…' he said, withdrawing a vial of clear reddish liquid from his robes. '…you will probably find it easier for you to rely on your own legs as opposed to that chair.'

Hermione gasped and felt the tears already begin to well up in her eyes. He had found a way to help her out of the chair. She would not be feeling so useless any more! She put her arms around his shoulders and pulled him closer, kissing his cheek and allowing the tears to stream freely down her cheeks.

'Thank you Severus, oh, thank you,' she said in between short sobs.

He smiled and held her as she cried, and pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead. Who would have thought that he would be capable of such a tender gesture? Sighing, he realized that the only reason why he had, was because of Hermione's friendship. He pulled back from the witch who was only sniffling a little by then.

'Okay, I want you to take this Potion now,' he said, pressing the vial into her hands with infinite tenderness.

Hermione sniffed and then nodded taking off the cap and quickly knocking back the surprisingly pleasant flavor. 'I expected that to taste worse than that, Severus,' she admitted with a small cringe.

He smiled and shook his head at the surprisingly impertinent girl. Who would have thought that anyone would be able to tease him and get away with it? 'I altered the taste to make it slightly more palatable,' he said quietly. 'The potion should begin to work immediately and you should be able to have your movement back before Christmas. Then you will be able to return to your own rooms…'

'Oh…' she said softly, looking away so that he couldn't see the disappointment in her eyes at his words.

He stood and took the empty vial with him towards the kitchen. 'You will need to take one dosage every day,' he said from the kitchen, pondering what he had just said.

Gods, he had told her that she would have to leave when she was healed again. He hadn't realized how much that would affect him. He didn't want her to go. He loved sharing his rooms with her, despite previously disliking such things. Hermione had changed him more than he had realized, and he didn't think he could handle her leaving.

'…Severus?' she called from the other room.

Steeling himself, he put aside the vial, and headed back into the other room, trying to control the emotions that he showed on his face. 'What is it?'

'When I leave here… will I still be allowed to come back?' she asked hesitantly, swallowing thickly.

He almost smiled at that but settled for a smirk instead. 'I believe it is within friendly rights to visit one's friend on occasion,' he replied, and received a beautiful smile for his effort.

He sat down on a couch then, and Hermione wheeled herself over to him, before he took her hands with his, and helped ease her up and out of the wheelchair, to come rest next to him on the couch. However, her foot slipped as they made the transition, and she ended up sprawled on his lap awkwardly, her cheeks flushed with pink and her front teeth sinking into her bottom lip a little.

'Oh, Merlin, I'm sorry,' she said, attempting to move herself off of him.

He grabbed her waist and stilled her, and then waved his hand to send her wheelchair out of the way and settled back into the chair comfortably with her seated across his legs. Picking up a book, he smirked at her astonished expression and opened the book to the last page he was on and began reading without another word. Eventually, she became curious as to what had him so silent, and she settled comfortably on his, resting her head on his shoulder where it met his neck.

Severus would have to admit that this was a rather comfortable position; with her sprawled on his lap and her leaning her small body into his and her head against his shoulder. He let his chin rest above her hair and breathed in the sweet scent; jasmine with just a hint of vanilla. - Absolutely desirable.

'What are your plans for the holiday?' Hermione mumbled from his chest.

He breathed out a sigh and put the book aside, letting his arms drape around her loosely in a semi-embrace. 'Well, before this year, I have spent most of my Christmas vacations at my house in Cambridge…' he answered absently.

'Why aren't you going there this year? Is it because of me?' she demanded, sitting up on his lap and looking a little unhappy at that. 'Because if you feel obligated to stay here just because of me, then I will have to insist that you go and I will return to the Hospital Wing until I am able to walk.'

Severus looked at her firmly and took her hand in his, trying to calm her down. 'Hermione, I can assure you that if that were the case, I would not be here right now,' he said soothingly. 'However, I may leave for a while once you are well.'

Hermione relaxed a little and rested against him once more. 'I will miss you,' she said, thinking about how lonely she was without his company when he taught classes during the week.

'Come with me then,' he said, trying not to sound apprehensive like a school boy asking a girl on a date, worried and terrified of rejection.

She turned to look at him with a slight frown. 'You want me to come with you to your home?' she asked. 'Severus, I really couldn't. I have already intruded quite a lot already, and I would not presume to further inconvenience you…'

'I assure you that you would be a welcome distraction. My home is quite dreary and there is little else to do there but read and talk to delusional house elves,' he insisted, cutting across her anxious reply.

'You really want me to come with you?' she asked with a joy dancing in her eyes that he had not seen there in quite some time now. He was glad that he was the one to bring that twinkle back.

'I would be honored if you would come with me to my home,' he replied honestly. 'I will be going there in a week.'

'Does that mean that you have to be here for the Yule Ball?' she inquired with a cheeky grin, knowing that he had to, and that he would not be happy about it.

He groaned and leaned his head back on the chair. He had to go to the Yule Ball. Why did the Headmaster have to force such horribly tedious things on him? Didn't he have enough on his plate as it was? Hermione laughed at his expression when she said that, and cupped his cheek, and coaxed him to look at her gleeful expression.

'Don't become glum, Severus. You can dance with me and ignore everyone else there,' she said with a teasing pout. 'Hopefully I will be able to walk and dance by then.'

He smiled. 'You will, and I will promise every dance to you,' he said.

Hermione beamed at this and wrapped twisted so that she could face him, and threw her arms around him, hugging him fiercely. She released him just enough to press her lips to his cheek in an appreciative kiss. She wanted to kiss him more and hold him closer, but she just couldn't do it. He didn't feel that way about her. He just couldn't.

'But what if some other witch wants to dance with you?' she asked with a small, endearing pout, as she hugged him.

He chuckled a little at her anxious inquisitiveness. 'I do not think that I will need to worry over that,' he said ruefully. 'Besides, I am sure that you are fully capable of keeping them away if they come.'

They spent the rest of the afternoon simply sitting there and reading together in blissful silence, enjoying the remainder of their time together before Hermione would return to her chambers. It had been a very long, hard term, and all Severus wanted to do was spend as much time as he could with her, making up for the weeks he had been without her. When she had been hurt, and had come so close to death, he realized that he had never been so scared of loosing someone in his life. He didn't know what he would do without her…

When the sky grew darker outside, Hermione went off to the bathroom to take a bath and relax a little before dinner, and managed to get herself into the bath without the aid of a levitation charm. Severus was right, and the Potion was working grandly. There was no doubt in her mind any more that she would be ready to dance and walk around at the Yule Ball in three days time.

When she emerged from the bathroom fully dressed, Severus passed her on his way in to take a shower, and returned about fifteen minutes later fully dressed in his repressive black attire, and they made their way to dinner together from there. Hermione entered the Great Hall through the staff door, as she was to dine at the Staff table for the time being, as Albus had insisted.

There were a few gasps from students that had elected to stay in when she entered in a wheel chair, but she simply smiled at them and nodded. Severus took the seat next to Albus on one side, and Hermione was then seated in between him and little Professor Flitwick.

'Good evening, Miss Granger. I trust you are well?' Filius asked cheerfully.

Hermione smiled at him. 'Absolutely Professor, I've honestly never been better,' she replied, looking at Severus out of the corner of her eye and seeing the smirk that formed on his lips at that. What was he grinning about? 'Thank you for sending me all of the class notes to catch up, though.'

'Well, to be honest, all of the staff know that you don't really need it, but thought you might like some revision,' the small wizard squeaked, with sent quite a few Professors into a fit of laughter, and Hermione could even here Severus chuckling low beside her, and felt the warmth of a blush on her cheeks.

Hermione turned and was about to scowl at Severus when she remembered that they weren't in the privacy of his chambers and refrained. Instead, she narrowed her eyes a little, and thumped him on the leg beneath the table. His leg jerked involuntarily, and his knee connected loudly with the table. Albus looked at him curiously, but when he saw Hermione's mischievous smile, he simply chuckled heartily. It did an old man good to see Severus finally blush – and it was all Hermione's doing.

'Are you alright there, Severus?' Albus asked innocently, as the younger wizard turned to scowl at the beautiful, seemingly innocent Head Girl.

'I'm fine, you barmy old man,' Severus said gruffly, but there was a tenderness belying his cold words.

He looked at Hermione, who was straining to keep from laughing at him. He sighed and dropped the glare. 'Go on then, you impertinent girl. Laugh all you like,' he grumbled as she did just that. 'I don't even see what is so damned funny.'

'Severus, lighten up,' Minerva said s she laughed behind her hand.

'Easy for you to say, you daft woman,' Severus muttered under his breath, stabbing his fork into a potato and glaring at his food.

Hermione saw that he was not amused, and had no wish to be on his bad side later when they returned to his chambers, so she controlled her laughter, and reached out to place her hand on his knee, making him look at her. 'Sorry,' she whispered, looking into his eyes imploringly.

He smiled momentarily at her, before returning to look at the food on his plate, and eat it instead of trying to murder it with his glares. Only Dumbledore and Minerva noticed this exchange and smiled secretly to each other as the staff table calmed down, and settled in to eat their dinner. Hermione ate her food in silence, marveling at how she was able to cheer him up, just with a single word.

She wondered if he could ever love her back, and for a moment, reflected on the few times she had seen and unfamiliar look in his eyes that had made her think that there was even the slightest possibility. If she ever had the chance to be with him, she knew that she would reach out and grab in a heartbeat. She didn't care that she was young, and nearly twenty years his junior. He was the only man that made her heart beat faster and slower all at the same time.

She looked over at him, and when she caught his eye, she smiled and he granted her a small one in return. Needless to say, dinner was fairly quiet and pleasant after that.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter Fifteen

'That's it Hermione, you are doing wonderfully,' Severus encouraged as they slowly danced the steps of the waltz together in his chambers. They had been brushing up on their dancing together so that Hermione would be prepared for the ball, and so that he was ready to dance without having to try and remember the steps later. 'Just spin into me, and then back out, and I'll bend you over my arm.'

Hermione willingly did as she was told, and spun out until only their fingertips touched really and then back into his arms, and then he draped her over one of his arms gracefully at the end of the song. He waved his hand and wandlessly stopped the music, before drawing her back up into a standing position. She had improved so quickly after being unable to walk for so long, and had been a remarkable dance partner after she got used to the steps.

Severus had been extremely supportive of her, and made her feel like the only one when they were dancing around like that. She had no idea he was so proficient at the art of dancing, but was glad that she finally did know, and that she was the only one who would be experiencing that skill at the ball that night. It was Christmas day already, and she had been more than surprised to find Presents for both of them, sitting under the Christmas tree in his chambers that she had insisted on.

And far be it for Severus Snape to deny a lady her wish. So he had acquired one, and they had decorated it together with ornaments that he had for one reason or another. Hermione had been delighted to receive a present from him, and was glad she had thought ahead far enough to ask Minerva to get something for her to give back to him. He had given her the most wonderful set of rare and expensive quills on the market, with many black feathered ones and a phoenix feather quill.

She learned later that the feather had come from Fawkes. Meanwhile Hermione had gifted Severus with a few rare books that she had not seen amongst his collection and he had been pleased enough to smile at her and kiss her on the cheek lightly. She had savored that brief touch, and had thought about it all day since.

Releasing a sigh, she sat down, exhausted after having danced so much when she had not done anything more strenuous than lifting herself out of her wheel chair a few times a day for almost a month. 'You are a brilliant dancer Severus Snape,' she commented to him with a grin.

He smiled back at her as he made his way to the kitchen. 'I'm glad you think so. I haven't danced like that in years,' he replied. 'Would you like anything while I'm in here?'

Hermione shook her head and stood. 'No, I think I'm going to go take a shower and get a little bit of sleep so I wont be so tired tonight,' she replied.

He nodded. 'Good idea. I have a feeling that you're going to need it at any rate,' he said, ushering her towards the bathroom, before heading to the kitchen and pouring himself a shot of whiskey. He only ever drank anything when Hermione wasn't around. She didn't really like it when he consumed alcohol.

He smiled, recalling the day when he had come back from teaching his annoying fourth years, and had went directly to the cabinet near the fire, pulled out some Firewhiskey, poured a shot and down it without realizing Hermione was there. When she coughed and asked him what was wrong, he had only shook his head and grumbled something about "stupid fourth years" and downed another shot. It was then that she mentioned that it didn't really suit him – drinking that was.

So from then on, he only indulged when Hermione was out of the room, or in bed taking a nap in the afternoons. He put away the bottle and charmed the shot glass clean, before returning it to the shelf too, and went about to make himself some tea. It had been one of the best Christmas' in so many years. In fact, he hadn't really enjoyed Christmas this much since before his mother had died.

He frowned at the thought, and quickly pushed it out of his head, looking at the now boiling tea kettle and taking it off the heat and making the Jasmine tea that Hermione favoured during the day. He found that it soothed him too, and had been drinking it more regularly than the strong black tea he had once preferred. It seemed that he had changed so much since Hermione had stayed with him.

They weren't huge changes; just small things, but even little things counted for something sometimes. He just liked different tea - that was all. Or so he tried to tell himself. Then, all of the sudden, something began to wind around his legs and rub against his trousers, and he knew that if he looked down, he would find cat hair all over his black pants.

'What do you want, you oversized fur ball?' he demanded as the cat continued to rub against him.

Crookshanks simply mewled and looked up at him with a slightly squashed face that he found amusing, and that Hermione found utterly and undeniably adorable. She loved her cat more than any pet owner he had ever met, aside from Argus Filch and that ridiculous Mrs. Norris of his.

'If you wanted food, just say so,' Severus grumbled as he set aside his tea and went to get a tin of cat food from the cupboard and scoop it into a bowl for the pet of the woman he loved.

The cat rubbed against his arms and purred, licking the end of his fingers when he patted it in a gesture that only told him that he had finally been accepted by the part kneazle. Why anyone would want a cat…?

After a while, Severus left the kitchen, and once he was sure that Hermione had exited the bathroom, he quietly crept in and locked the doors, before shedding his clothes. He needed a shower too, and had a feeling that a little sleep before the ball would not go amiss. After all, he was going to be forced to endure the presence of his fellow Order members that evening, and could use all the sleep he could get to be able to endure that kind of torture. Potter and his little girlfriend would be there, as well as the remainder of the Weasley's.

Briefly, he wondered how Hermione was going to handle all of this, especially with the Weasley's devoid of her friends, Ronald and Ginevra. It was odd, when he realized that Hermione never mentioned or spoke of them at all. He had once believed that she had been romantically involved with Ron, but now knew better than that. Sighing, he washed the lather of soap from his skin and turned the water off, summoning a towel and wrapping it around his waist.

He went directly to his room from there, and dried himself before dressing in a pair of his black trousers, and simply slumping onto his bed, not bothering with a shirt. He would wake up in a couple of hours to get ready for the ball anyhow. Resting his head on a pillow, he closed his eyes, stretched his arms, breathed out and let sleep claim him, if only for a little while.

Two hours later, however, Hermione had already woken up, and wrapped her bathrobe around herself as she went in search for said Potions Master. When she saw that his bedroom door – a room that she had respectfully avoided – was slightly ajar, she thought it wouldn't hurt to peek in to see if he was awake. She nudged it open a little more quietly, and was met by a most surprising sight.

Severus Snape was stretched out on his bed, devoid of a shirt, with him arms tucked beneath his head as he slept. Hermione could see the light muscles rippling in his chest and arms as he breathed steadily. He looked so handsome right there, and she itched to go to him and trace the scars that were scattered over his chest – evidence of his contribution to the war. She had never seen so many.

Realizing that she was staring, she quickly slipped out of the room and closed the door softly behind her, struggling to regain her composure at seeing the man she loved that way. He was as physically attractive as he was in every other way she liked him. She was attracted to his mind, and passion and dedication. She was in love with his heart and loyalty and sacrifice. And now she was drawn to his body, scars and all.

Swallowing, she raced back to her room and began pulling out the dress robes she had purchased earlier that year for this occasion. It was the cream and wine coloured faerie silk dress robes that she had bought herself on the day she discovered her ability to perform wandless magic. That had been an interesting day to say the least. She knew that she had been hiding that fact for a long time, and wondered if she should have told Severus about it.

Sighing, she began to dress and applied a light amount of makeup so that it looked natural and charmed her ringlet curls into a graceful, curling knot leaving some curls to gently frame her face. When she was satisfied that she was ready, she left her rooms, and ran straight into Severus in the sitting room. She backed up a little, and admired him in his black dress robes, simple and clean cut, with a surprising silver waistcoat to complete the outfit. He looked positively dashing.

'Severus… you look very – charming tonight,' she said with a bright smile, trying to stop herself from getting flustered.

He smiled at her and held out his hand to take hers, and lifted it to his lips, kissing her knuckles briefly, before tucking it into the crook of one of his arms. 'Thank you, and might I say that you are looking stunning, Hermione,' he said in a low, silky tone that made her want to jump all over him. 'Shall we go?'

She nodded, and allowed him to escort her out of his rooms and upstairs to where the festivities were just beginning. She couldn't help but to marvel at the splendor that met them in the Great Hall. Contrary to how the hall was usually decorated for such events, it seemed that the Headmaster had decided to tone it down and go for simple and elegant as opposed to extravagant.

'Oh, Sev… it's beautiful,' she said breathlessly.

He looked down at her delighted face and smiled fractionally. 'Yes, quite beautiful,' he replied smoothly, eyes never leaving her face.

She blushed and pulled him to move towards the hall to where people had congregated, and spotted Harry with Luna by the refreshment table. 'Harry, Luna! When did you get here?' she asked, releasing Severus' arm and hugging both of her friends.

'We arrived with the Weasley's about twenty minutes ago,' Harry replied, and then he caught sight of the Potions Master behind her and nodded at the taller man. Being the more matured boy that he was, Harry held out a hand to his Professor in greeting. 'Good Evening Professor Snape.'

'Mr. Potter,' Severus replied graciously, accepting the handshake politely. He could tell that the boy was trying for his best friends' sake, and he would do that same thing – only for Hermione though.

Luna and Hermione seemed lost in chatter with each other beside them and so Harry decided to take the opportunity to ask the older wizard what he wanted to know. 'Sir, I don't mean to seem impudent, but are you…?' he began.

Severus held up a hand to silence the boy. 'I have not yet made my feelings known to her, but rest assured that you will know if I do,' he whispered quietly.

Harry nodded and accepted that quickly. 'She needs you, you know. And I know that she has feelings for you too. I could always tell with Hermione,' he insisted with a small smile at his former antagonist.

'She will be accompanying me to my home tomorrow for the remainder of the Holiday. If you were so obliged, I would like to invite you and Miss Lovegood to dinner on New Years,' he said in a slightly clipped tone.

Harry smiled then, and nodded. He knew that Snape didn't like him that much and that he was making an honest effort to make Hermione happy, and knew then just how much the older man loved her. He would treat her right, and for that, Harry was most emphatically relieved. 'I would like to accept your offer. When should we come?' Harry asked with a sincere look in his eyes.

'I would say that Seven o'clock would be acceptable,' Severus replied.

Harry nodded. 'Thank you, sir,' he said.

'Have a good evening, Mr. Potter,' Severus said, just as Hermione and Luna returned to them, and Luna left on Harry's arm, and Hermione smiled up at him.

'What was that all about?' she asked, placing her hand on his arm.

'I was merely inviting Mr. Potter and Miss Lovegood to spend New Years dinner with us at my home,' he replied, watching Hermione's face for a reaction.

Her response was more than he had ever hoped for. Without a care for what people would say, she threw her arms around him, and kissed his on the lips soundly. Severus had not anticipated this at all, however, but was able to put his arms around her in time to catch her, and responded to her kiss. Her lips were soft and inviting, and everything he had expected them to be, but even with that being said, it was surprising nonetheless. She pulled back and looked up his face, seeing a love shining in his eyes that she had not seen before then.

She didn't even think about what she had done until her lips were on his thin, but soft ones. She was going to pull back and apologise, but then he had kissed her back, and by the look in his eyes and the small smile on his lips, she would have to say that he didn't object to it one bit. It was lucky for them that nobody had really seen it, as Harry just across the Hall, Remus Lupin had proposed to Nymphadora Tonks.

Slowly, Severus released her and set her back down on the ground in front of him, reaching out a hand to cup her cheek and brush a thumb against it warmly. 'Next time you do that, could you warn me at least,' he said softly.

Hermione blushed and smiled shyly at him. 'Next time I won't do that in a room full of people,' she promised.

Severus chuckled softly as a thought just occurred to him. 'It doesn't matter that nobody saw that, but I'll bet you any amount of money that Minerva and Albus did,' he said just before she ask what was so funny.

She laughed then too, and then spotted those exact two, sitting at a table chatting with Arthur Weasley, looking over at her and grinning. She tugged on Severus' arm and gestured over at them, and his mouth fell open a little when he realized that he had been correct.

'Nosy old codgers,' he grumbled, and Hermione just smiled and took his hand, twining her fingers with his own.

'Now Severus, you should be used to that by now,' she scolded softly, belying her tone with the look of pure adoration in her eyes.

Never in a million years did Severus ever believe that this amazing witch could ever care for him. But Hermione, standing close beside him, holding his hand and having just kissed him, was evidence that she truly did. Not to mention the look in her eyes that he had never noticed before the kiss. He knew that this was possibly the best Christmas that he had ever had.

'Would you care to dance, milady?' he offered courteously, lifting her hand to his lips and kissing her palm gently, flickering his tongue out to taste her skin and gave it a little nip with his teeth.

Hermione smiled and felt a little breathless from this gesture, but nodded and allowed him to lead her onto the dance floor. The rest of the Wizarding world be damned. She loved this dark, brooding man, and was going to dance with him all night if she had anything to say about it. He took her into his arms and then gracefully swept her into the dance as they had practiced it that morning.

As they danced, he looked into her eyes, and bestowed on her the most loving smile she had ever seen on his lips, before leaning in to gently capture her in a kiss that was chaste, but full of unspoken meaning. Albus and Minerva had been right. She just needed to give him a chance…


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter Sixteen

The snow outside made it very uncomfortable to be in the fresh air for extended periods of time. However, the season was beautiful, with the icicles and snow covering the ground and the foliage and trees. It would be that way for another two months when the end of February would hail in the springtime. It was New Years day, the beginning of a new year, and a new life for Severus Snape. He and Hermione had been up to welcome the New Year together, and she had bestowed a tender, yet loving kiss on him. It had been the best new year of his life.

It didn't take quite as long as Severus had expected for him to realize that he and Hermione had gone from being friends to being something more. He supposed it really sank in once they had gone to his home in Cambridge, away from Hogwarts and with only each other for company really. It had been a very interesting few days with her there, and he was going to be reluctant to return to Hogwarts when the 8th of January came around.

They had spent much of their time working together on his and Hermione's research into advanced Healing Potions for major spell damage and other yet incurable diseases. They had not made much progress so far other than having found some rare ingredients that were said to have high healing properties when bound together in a particular way. It was also going to take some charms expertise as well, to combine Potion making with wand work to create and even more potent brew.

'Severus, is it possible to use poppy seed for the sedative properties to make the subject semi-conscious to reduce pain when their bodies are recuperating from the Potion?' Hermione asked that morning as they were in his impressively large library studying together.

He nodded slowly with a slight frown creasing his brow. 'I believe it is viable, however, without the proper stabilizer, it would not be possible to add it because it would react badly with the moon lily that is in the basic healing Potions base,' he replied, scribbling notes into his journal to think about later.

'But if we found a stabilizing plant, we could do it, right?' she asked, flipping through an advanced Herbology guide.

'I do believe that is possible,' he agreed, the frown still in place.

Hermione smiled at him a little and reached out to touch his furrowed brow gently, and his features relaxed almost instantly at that. Using that softening as encouragement, she leaned across the small distance between them, and placed her lips upon his gently, slowly coaxing him to respond. He kissed her back slowly, savoring the feeling of her lips upon his as their closed mouths mated chastely.

A small purr of satisfaction escaped her throat softly, and his careful restraint snapped within an instant, before his tongue swept out of his mouth and ran along her bottom lip slowly. Hermione, surprisingly parted her lips for him, and allowed him access to her mouth, boldly sliding her tongue against his and tasting him. She could taste the coffee that he had been drinking earlier with morning tea, and the spice biscuit that he had indulged in.

When breathing became imperative once more, he slowly ended the kiss and pulled back, simply nipping at her lips gently, soothing them with a lick, and placing a peck at the corner of her mouth. Hermione gazed at him with lust-fogged eyes, her lips parted to suck in deep breaths as she panted in her recovery from such a kiss. He had never kissed her like that before, and she had to admit, she liked it very much. It was much more intense and meaningful that their previous chaste kisses. It was personal, and something that you wouldn't do with someone unless you cared for them a great deal.

'Wow…' she said breathlessly.

He smirked at her comment smugly and cupped her cheek, brushing his thumb over her cheekbone smoothly. 'Indeed,' he murmured silkily in a way that sent the warmth rushing to her abdomen and then further down still.

'I can honestly say that I wouldn't mind it if you did that more often,' she admitted honestly, drawing a satisfied chuckle from him, and he turned his body to draw her from her chair and across his lap.

He clutched her close to his body, the research journal completely forgotten for the time being as he held her against his hard length. 'My dear, I will make it a promise to do it as often as I am able if it pleases you,' he replied, making her blush again.

Hermione snuggled further into his chest and kissed a slow path from his collarbone, along the long column of his pale neck and across his jaw, until she finally placed a last teasing kiss on the corner of his mouth. He chuckled when she relentlessly refused to meet his lips with hers, teasing him by not giving him what he wanted. She was such an enticing little minx, if truth be known.

'Hermione…' he growled in a warning tone.

'Severus…' she mocked back innocently, kissing the end of his aristocratic nose gently, before finally meeting his lips with her own, which soon bloomed into their second passionate kiss that day.

When they finally pulled back from each other this time, they both decided that they should get back to the research, because they would not be doing any that night, when Harry and Luna came around for dinner. Hermione was still surprised that Severus had invited them, but then again, that had been the thing he did that had made her kiss him so impulsively. If he hadn't they wouldn't be wrapped up in each other as such.

Eventually, it was lunch time, and Severus had his house elves deliver s tray of sandwiches up to them, so they could continue their work unhindered. He really wanted to find a stabilizer now that Hermione had piqued his interest in the subject. She had eventually gave over the Herbology and Potions Ingredients books, and took up the search for pro-active charms for their Potion instead.

At four o'clock, they both agreed that it was time to give up for the day, and they packed away all of their things carefully, making sure that they would have everything ready for the next time they decided to continue, and spent an hour together in the snow. It had first started off as a walk around the grounds of his rather large estate, which he merely termed as a house compared to his other inherited estates, but had eventually progressed into a snowball fight.

Hermione had a snow fortress built in seconds with a wave of her wand, and Severus had to jump out of the way of a snowball flying at his head, before he relented to building himself a snow fortress. They sent handmade snowballs at each other, until Severus did a few ducks and rolls, running towards her, and jumped over her fortress, pinning her down in the snow on her back, with him hovering above her.

'Surrender,' he growled with a victorious grin. '… and I may spare you.'

'I will never surrender,' she proclaimed to him dramatically, hooking her legs around his, and forcing him over onto his back, straddling his waist and holding his arms above his head, her eyes glinting.

Severus' mouth dropped open in surprise. Hermione took advantage of his position, and swooped down to kiss him, her tongue sliding into the hot cavern of his mouth, tongue twining around his, teeth nipping, lips caressing. After a little, she released his arms, in favor of sliding her hands into the silky strands of his black hair. His arms wrapped around her waist and simply pulled her closer as he responded with equal, if not rivaling enthusiasm to her bold kisses.

They finally parted for air some minutes later, and she simply rested against his chest, sucking in the cold air. He shifted into a sitting position, and soon had himself standing, with an exhausted Hermione in his arms. He had to remember that she was not quite healed yet, and her physical strength was not what it used to be. Too much physical exertion would make her crash.

'Are you alright, Hermione?' he asked her quietly as he carried her with him back up to his house.

She simply wrapped her arms around his neck, and buried her head in his neck, too tired to answer. He decided that he would leave her alone, and have an elf draw her bath so that she could get warm and have enough strength for that evening. He left her in her bathroom, and also left the last dosage of the modified healing Potion next to the cane she sometimes had to resort to from lack of strength in her trim legs.

Hermione emerged from her bath, still a little weak in the legs from all of the physical exertion that afternoon. Still, it had been fun, and most definitely worth it. She had no idea that Severus would ever even consider having a snowball fight with her, even if she was the one who had started it when she threw a snowball at the back of his head when he wasn't looking. She chuckled at the memory, as she changed into a pair of her grey trousers, with a white blouse and a navy sweater over the top.

Harry and Luna would be there in about half an hour and she had yet to find Severus, who had disappeared shortly after leaving her to her bath. She went to his rooms, which she had carefully avoided, as she had in his chambers at Hogwarts, and knocked on the door this time, after what she had seen last time. She wasn't sure if she could hide her desire to strip him of his clothes and ravish him within and inch of his life any more, and was sure that he wouldn't mind, if the hardness that she had felt against her thigh as they were snogging was an indicator.

'Come in,' said his muffled, silky voice.

She opened the door and slipped inside, using the cane for extra support that evening as her legs were still a little shaky. She really hated having to resort to such desperate measures like this. 'Hello Severus,' she said.

He entered his small sitting room from the door that apparently led to his bed chamber, buttoning the last cuff on his white shirt, leaving the top buttons undone. She watched as he pulled on a black cashmere sweater, pleased that he had not decided to wear his repressed teaching clothes just because Harry and Luna were coming. Walking up to him, she wrapped her arms around his neck, and leaned up to place a simple kiss in his very willing lips.

'You look very nice in that,' she commented idly.

'I'm glad you approve. You also look rather fetching in that,' he replied a little huskily as he slipped his lips along the smooth column of her throat, giving a little nip on her neck, and making her squirm against him.

'Severus,' she scolded, pulling away. 'You'll leave a mark!'

He chuckled. 'That was the point of the exercise, my dear,' he replied with a smirk at her look of mock consternation.

She huffed, and was about to leave them room, when Severus easily wound his arms around her and pulled her back against him, hindering her escape. She would not be getting away that easily.

'Severus,' she whined as he kissed and suckled her neck once more, although this time she tilted her head to the side a little so that he had easier access. 'Please… Harry and Luna will be here any minute.'

He chuckled and gave her neck one last nip, before pulling away. 'Very well, madam, but you can not deny that you rather enjoyed my attentions, didn't you?' he asked suggestively in her ear.

She turned and smiled at him, shaking her head. 'Honestly, you'd think that being a Professor would teach you a little more self control,' she muttered, but her the affection in her tone belied her scolding.

They left the room together, and Severus went straight to the sitting room to await the arrival of his guests, that he had asked to dinner on a strange whim, that had ultimately been the cause of Hermione being with him romantically. Who would have thought, Harry Potter had been the reason for his and Hermione's current status with each other? He laughed inwardly at the thought. It seemed absurd.

An elf finally appeared in the room with a pop. 'Sir, your guests is here, master Snape sir,' the elf announced.

'Bring them in here please, Missy,' Severus said politely.

Hermione smiled and nodded in approval of the way he treated his elves. Actually, she thought he was a kind and fair master to them. She went to a small mirror nearby to ensure that she was presentable enough, and quickly charmed her hair into a loose knot at the nape of her neck, and cast a charm to hide the love bite that hard begun to colour purple on her fair skin.

'I told you that you'd leave a mark,' she said dryly, turning to find him simply smirking at her him a mischievous look in his eyes.

The door then opened, and a house elf led a hesitant Harry and Luna into the room behind it, before Disappearing with a soft popping noise. Hermione immediately rushed to her friends, and hugged them both tightly.

'Harry, Luna, I've missed you,' she said truthfully. She hadn't realized before that moment just how much she had missed Harry over the break.

Harry smiled and patted her back in a brotherly way, wary of Snape's watchful eye over them. 'I missed you too, Hermione,' he said, before leaving his sister and girlfriend, and walking over to Snape with his hand outstretched. 'Happy New Year, Professor.'

Severus took his hand and shook it firmly. 'Thank you Potter, however, while we are not on school grounds, you may call me Severus,' he offered with a small smile.

To say Harry was dumfounded was an understatement to say the very least, but he seemed to come out of his shock after a while, and managed a sincere smile back at his Professor. Hermione knew that there was an awkwardness in the air now, and decided to break the ice first.

'So how have you and Harry been at the Burrow?' Hermione addressed directly to Luna, who seemed a little disconcerted until Hermione spoke to her.

'The Burrow? Well, it has been lovely, really it has. Molly makes me feel really welcome there, but I oh… I suppose it's just not the same without, you know…' she replied, trying to avoid the extremely sensitive topic.

Hermione nodded, swallowing thickly, and this time, Severus saw that she was stuck for words, and decided to take his queue from there to lead the conversation elsewhere. 'Why don't we all sit down and I'll have the elves bring up some wine?' he suggested, and Hermione nodded and sat down on the chaise lounge beside him hesitantly. 'Would you prefer white or red?'

'Red,' Hermione replied, and Harry and Luna nodded to say that red was fine.

The happiness that had flooded the room when the two had first arrived had been sucked out, all by the mention of the Weasley's. While Luna and Severus were not as badly as affected as Harry and Hermione were, he could still feel the aching that she felt, all because he loved her. He couldn't bear to see her so forlorn. He quietly sent and elf to get the wine and brought up a new topic, hoping to distract Hermione and Harry from their morbid thoughts.

Hermione smiled at his effort appreciatively, and allowed herself to become distracted by the talk of their upcoming N.E.W.T. exams a months after the holidays. But in the back of her mind lingered one thought, and no doubt Harry thought it too. This was their first New Year without Ginny and Ron…


	17. Chapter 17

WARNING - I am just warning you that this chapter has an "R" rating for adult themes and sexual references etc. If you're not comfortable with that sort of thing, turn back now

Chapter Seventeen

'Honestly, Severus… I'm fine,' Hermione said in a tired and exasperated tone, trying not to let her annoyance at being only partially mobile get the better of her. The last few days had been a real strain on her, physically most notably, but also emotionally. She had held back tears of frustration that many times, at not being able to do some things, as well as walk on her own some of the time. And even though Severus meant well, she wanted to do things on her own, not rely on others.

She had just been reaching up for a book on the shelf, and when she realized that she wasn't tall enough, she went and got the book-shelf ladder and set it in nearby so that she could claim her book. However, when she had gotten on the ladder, her leg muscle began to grow weak, and she slipped backwards from the ladder, and was lucky enough that Severus had fast reflexes and was able to dive in and catch her before she hit the floor. Hermione, however, still needed the book and wasn't about to let Severus get it for her just because she wasn't fully healed yet.

She stood and brushed herself off, before holding out a hand to haul Severus off the floor also. He, being the gentleman that he was prone to in her presence, shook his head and picked himself off the ground fluidly, sweeping the dust from his black linen shirt that day.

'Would you like me to retrieve the book?' he asked softly.

And that was what did it. Hermione just snapped, and the tears began to slide down her cheeks in great tracks, and she began to sob helplessly. Severus was shocked at first, how she could go from being so level-headed moments before when they were researching, to breaking down before him and weeping. Finally, it seemed to really kick in, and he wrapped his arms around her and patted her back in comfort.

After a while, he drew them towards the nearest couch, and sat down before pulling Hermione into his lap and rocking her gently, murmuring soothing words to her as she wept. She hadn't cried this much – well ever, as far as he knew. Ten minutes later, she calmed down enough to simply sniffle with her head buried into his thoroughly soaked shirt. Gods, women must have had tears ducts as big as the oceans themselves from what the dampness of his shirt indicated.

He tipped her face up to look at him, and kissed her forehead gently. 'Hermione love, tell me what's wrong?' he asked in a soothing tone.

Her bottom lip trembled, but she drew a deep breath anyway to explain. 'I feel so useless, Severus. I can't even get a book from the shelf properly. I cant defend myself and I cant save my friends and everything is all wrong…' she said in between small sobs of frustration.

'Let me try to understand what you are telling me. You feel useless because you can not walk properly yet; you are depressed because you couldn't save Ronald and Ginevra Weasley's lives, and you feel utterly miserable overall, am I correct?' he asked, numbering things on his fingers.

'I think you understand what I meant,' she said with a half-smile.

'Hermione…' he said with a heavy sigh. 'You need to try and understand something. Ronald and Ginevra, for whatever reason, were destined to fall in the battle. It was not your fault that you had been unable to save them – you were injured too, remember? I was standing nearby when you were struck down. Ron and Ginny were taken only moments after that,' he said solemnly. 'There was no time for you to get back on your feet and rush to their rescue. I should have tried harder to get to them – so if anyone is to blame, then it is me…'

Hermione shook her head sternly. 'Never… Severus never blame yourself for that. It wasn't your fault. You were too busy saving my sorry arse. I should have been on guard, and then you would have been able to help them instead of me…'

Severus stilled her lips with his index finger pressed to them gently. 'Hush, love, hush… there is no need for us to discuss this any more. You will regain the strength in your legs and the memories will sort themselves out some day,' he murmured gently. 'For now, we must try to live as they would have, had they lived.'

'I will not join the Aurory in memory of Ronald,' Hermione huffed, giving Severus a pointed look from her position on his lap.

He chuckled softly. 'And I hardly think my bedside manner could possibly get me into a Healer's Apprenticeship,' Severus returned smoothly.

Hermione laughed a little when he said that, and snuggled back into his arms, kissing the parts of his skin where his shirt was unbuttoned to and up to nibble his neck, sucking harder in one spot to create a love bite, much like the one he had given her at New Years'. After a while, she felt that there wasn't quite enough of his skin exposed, so she took the liberty of unbuttoning a couple more. He didn't complain, but did smirk at her when she looked at him to ask if it was ok.

'My dear, you could unbutton as many as you please and I still would not be complaining,' he said with a glint in his eyes.

Hermione laughed as she pulled his shirt out of his trousers and finished unbuttoning the garment, peeling the sides apart so that she could admire his finely sculptured chest. True, she had seen this chest once before, but not only had that been from the opposite side of the room, but she had not been touching and kissing him back then. She leaned forwards and placed the gentlest of kisses over the place where his heart was pounding faster than it ever had before, despite his outer cool.

'Hermione…are you sure that you…. Please don't do this – you have no idea what you're getting into love,' he said with a strained, yet pleading tone.

Hermione pressed fingers to still his lips. 'Hush, Severus… I am perfectly aware of what I am doing right now, and I will tell you now that I have done this once before, but I am by no means an expert… I want to do this, with you,' she said softly, barely above a whisper.

'I don't want to rush into things,' he replied quietly. 'I don't want you to regret this in the morning when you wake up and remember this…'

She smiled and leaned forwards, kissing his lips to silence his rambling. 'Hush now, Severus. I will not regret this…' she said, voice full of raw emotion. '…how could I ever regret loving you?'

He was so stunned then that he didn't think he would be able to talk for the rest of his life, but he did, and it was a choked sound. 'Hermione… what do you mean by that?' he asked softly.

'I love you, Severus,' she said softly. 'I've loved you for quite some time now.'

His jaw dropped, and his eyes were wide in wonder. She hoped she hadn't driven him off with that. It could have been a bit of a problem if he decided that he couldn't love her or even care for her any more. She waited in anticipation for him to say something, but he just gaped and stumbled with his words. Severus, meanwhile, was still reeling. She loved him. She really loved him!

He pulled her as close as he humanly could and ravished her surprised mouth and pressing his tongue into the inviting warmth of the hot cavern that was her delicious little mouth. She kissed him back, and kissed him until she had no more air in her lungs. The shirt was pushed off his shoulders and discarded, leaving his entire chest and bare arms open to her scrutiny.

'You are an amazing woman, Hermione Granger,' Severus murmured to her lovingly, looking her in the eyes. 'And I love you, more than you will ever know.'

Hermione smiled broadly at that and peppered small kisses over his chest, nuzzling a nipple, and giving it a light lick. He sucked in a deep breath and moaned softly as she continued her ministrations on his extremely sensitive nipples. He had forgotten how sensitive they were; so long it had been since he had felt the touch of a woman. But Hermione was not just and woman, and he touch seared him through to his heart unlike any other.

'…Hermione,' he moaned softly.

She rewarded his responsiveness with a nip, and sat up to look straight at his beloved face. She smiled and leaned in, kissing him on the lips. 'Wouldn't this be more comfortable elsewhere?' she asked in a suggestive tone.

His eyebrow rose at that, but he lifted her up into his arms as he stood, clutching her to his body, before Apparating to his bedroom from there. He set her down on her feet before his bed, and took her hand to gently lead her over to the bed if she wished to continue. Hermione was more, than willing, but stopped him in his tracks, curious to know something.

'Severus, how on earth did you Apparate into here?' she asked.

He chuckled. 'I have set the wards to disallow others to Apparate in, but allow myself and my guests to Apparate within,' he answered, leading the rest of the way and sitting in the edge of the bed with her standing between his legs.

Without another word, Severus pulled her sweater off over her head, before instantly applying his hands to the task of unbuttoning her blouse from the bottom up. He pressed a kiss to each new part of her skin he revealed, dipping his tongue into her navel in a way that made her squirm. As he revealed the valley between her modest breasts, he trailed his tongue from there, up her collarbone and sucked lightly on her neck as he peeled the shirt from her.

Hermione leaned willingly into his heated touch, and allowed him to continue undressing her, worshipping her body and making her feel like a goddess. He found the clasp of her bra at the back, and with a twist of his nimble fingers, it came undone, and he slipped the straps of the garment down her arms and discarded it as he had the shirt. He was the eye level with her breasts, not huge, but smooth and supple globes. He leaned forwards and passed his tongue over a tightly furled, dusky pink nipple that only hardened further. He heard the moan low in her throat at his attentions.

He knew then, that she really wanted this with him, and sucked it into his mouth, letting his teeth graze lightly, relieving any sting with a sweep of his tongue, while his other hand pinched and rolled the other nipple, massaging the globe. He switched sides, and gave the same treatment to the neglected one, and then slowly, but surely, kissed up and began to stand form the bed until his mouth met her in a fiery and passionate kiss.

'No other man is to touch you this way,' he growled against her mouth, trailing his fingers over her modest curves, her flat, taught belly and the cleft between her firm breasts.

Hermione nodded fervently. 'No other man but you, Severus,' she said breathlessly as his teeth gently latched onto her earlobe.

'You are mine, understand?' he questioned.

'I am all yours, for as long as you will have me,' she replied, aching into his touch as his fingers danced over her breasts.

'I will not share you,' he stated, before capturing her mouth in a plundering kiss, sucking on her tongue and tangling it with his own mouth.

He pulled back, and she felt a surge of loss, but did not have long to dwell on that, before his hands were toying with the button and zip of her trousers in and almost teasing fashion. She thrust her hips towards him to urge him on, but he chuckled and trailed his fingers up to her waist. Growling in frustration, she let her own hands go to the pants resting on her hips, and unbuttoned them. He stilled her hands then, realizing that the teasing was too much.

'Ah ah ah, be patient now my love,' he said in a sing song type of voice.

'Severus…' she whined, stamping her foot.

He grinned and acquiesced, pulling down the zipper and then skimming the pants down her trim legs, before she stepped out of them, and they were discarded carelessly. She returned the favor then, teasing the band of the pants at his thin hips, before finally slipping them down his long, lean legs as he had for her. They made short work of the rest of their undergarments, and Severus pulled her newly exposed body into his own equally nude one, his arousal butting her in the stomach, and her damp curls tickling his thigh.

He hoisted her up into his arms to her surprise, and then deposited her in the middle of the bed, before joining her and laying on his side, with his head propped up on one hand, looking down at her and admiring her. She had the form of an athlete, much like himself, which he had initially cursed in his younger years as he had been thin as a boy, but as a spy, it had been convenient to weigh less than the rest of his contemporaries. He trailed his hand down her side, reveling at the shiver that when through her, and let his hand graze the neat triangle of curls at her mound.

'You are so beautiful Hermione…' he whispered, a long finger stroking into her slit, and burying itself into her to the knuckle, followed by a second.

Hermione moaned, and arched herself into him, unable to put two coherent words together. '…S- Sev…' she moaned loudly.

His thumb found her clit and rubbed gently and he continued to plunge his fingers in and out of her in a steady rhythm. He pressed on that sweet spot within her with his fingers, and she cried out his name, and her inner muscles clamped down on his long fingers and rippled around him in the first orgasm that he had ever given her. He withdrew his fingers as she calmed, before rising up over her and looking down at her face as she came back down from her high.

'Severus… I want you inside me… please… Oh I need you,' she whimpered softly, trying to push down on his erect penis that was situated just before her entrance.

He captured her lips in a demanding kiss, before finally thrusting home into her depths, their cries and growls muffled by each others' lips. He stilled, to allow her body to accustom itself to his size, which was relatively larger than the average male, before slowly drawing out, and pushing back in quickly. They established a firm pounding rhythm, Hermione arching her hips into his, rolling them for better angle. All that could be heard was a soft thudding, and the panting breaths coming form the couple joined as they strived to reach completion together.

Severus changed his angle just a little, and thrust hard, and that was when he felt the familiar ripple of her inner muscles coming to climax. 'Sev… I'm going to come soon…' she said in between gasps of breath.

He could feel his own sack tightening too, and a familiar tingle in his testicles telling him that he was going to come soon too. He let his thumb travel between them at he thrust, and feathered it over her clit. Apparently that was all it took, and she clamped around him, drawing him into her climax. He gave another three long, hard thrusts and spilled his seed into her and he came.

When they came back down, both were sweaty and panting and clutching onto each other. Severus had enough mind to collapse beside her instead of on top of her, and quickly wrapped his arms around her. He was about to withdraw his softening member from her body, when she hooked her legs around him to keep him there. He had never stayed within a woman like that before, but apparently Hermione wanted him there, and he honestly had no complaints.

'I love you, Severus,' she murmured sleepily, reaching up to kiss him on the lips, and snuggling into him.

'And I love you,' he replied in kind, casting a cleansing charm over them and the bed, before charming the bed covers over them, and settling in for what he imagined would be the best sleep of his life.

A/N - Sorry for that update, but I think that the sexual relationship between the couple is sort of essential for tension and excitement in the plot. As always, review if you can - Brandy


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter Eighteen

White sunlight filtered gently into the room through a gap in the curtain. It was morning, and what a wonderful morning it was. Or so thought a certain, tall dark and brooding man who was currently wrapped around the smaller figure of a woman as they lay in bed together. Severus had woken at his usual waking time that morning, only to find himself wrapped around the naked, slumbering form of Hermione. Then the memories of the night before all came rushing back to him, and he remembered why he felt more tired than usual.

Hermione had really worn him out. They had made love three times during the night after short breaks of sleep in between. He smiled and tightened his arms around the witch, who emitted a muffled squeak, which indicated to him that she was not sleeping at all. She turned in his loosened embrace, and stretched languidly, pressing her front against his chest and her arms extended above her head.

After she had finished teasing him, she leaned up and gave him a good morning kiss – the first of many that he hoped to receive. 'Good morning to you too,' he purred, stroking her unclothed hip.

She smiled sleepily, and rested her head on his chest, turning to press a kiss to his breastbone just to the side of his left nipple, which began to tighten with just that tiny bit of contact with her. Seeing this made her grin, and she let her tongue dark out to lick it teasingly. With a growl, Severus rolled them over so that she was on her back, and he hovered above them, his arousal hot and hard against her thigh, cradled against her hot centre.

'In me, now,' she whispered.

'As you wish,' he said in a devastating purr, before plunging straight into her, and establishing a rhythm quickly.

It didn't take long for either of them to reach their peaks that morning, and they came together, crying each others names in ecstasy. Coming down from their high, Severus leaned over and ravished Hermione's mouth with his own, kissing her until she was breathless once more, before pulling away and sitting up in bed, his back to her. She could see all of the scars lining his back, and reached out a hand and traced them gently with her finger.

'You are so beautiful Severus,' she said softly, voice full of emotion.

He looked around at her and frowned slightly at her description of his entirely unattractive array of scars, but didn't see the point in arguing with a Gryffindor. She would not change her mind once it was made up – but then again, he was sort of counting on that in the first place.

His expression softened as he gazed upon her flushed face and then as he ogled her sweat glistening body in the soft glow of light form the gap in the curtains. 'I could certain get used to waking up like that,' he said with a grin.

Hermione blushed and smiled. 'I think we can arrange something,' she replied wantonly, until she remembered they had to return to Hogwarts the next day. 'Oh… that wont really be possible…'

He thought about what she said, and then realized what she meant by it. 'Hermione… my love, do you think that after last night, I would let you get away so easily? Surely you realize that I love you, and could never do away with you?' he asked in hushed tones. 'I will expect that the only difference shall be that we may not openly broadcast our relationship. I don't want to loose all of this for five months…'

A smile broke out over her beautiful features, and she sat up and threw her arms around him, before kissing him soundly. 'You really want this? All of this sneaking around?' she asked carefully.

'I would only sneak for you,' he replied sincerely.

Hermione knew it was the truth from the moment the words left his lips. He really did love her just as much as she loved him. 'I want to stay with you, Severus. I want to talk and read and research with you. I want to touch and kiss you, I want to fall asleep in your bed, and wake up with your arms around me…' she said softly.

He kissed her forehead and smoothed away some stray curls. 'I wouldn't have it any other way,' he murmured into her hair. 'I want you to live with me in my chambers… I don't want to call them mine – I want them to be ours…'

'We can't Severus,' she said sadly.

'Not officially, but I expect that you'll be around often enough for them to be classed as ours unofficially at the very least,' he replied, agreeing but trying to remain optimistic.

'It will look strange to people if I keep going down there,' she countered.

'I'll have Albus connect the floo from your chambers to mine directly. That way it will deter any unwanted commentary – for now,' he said with a half-smile.

Hermione nodded and wrapped her arms around his waist instead, kissing his shoulder lightly as she let her finger trace along the scars on his chest. He sighed and accepted her comforting touch, sad that he could not honor Hermione properly by making her his wife until she left Hogwarts. He had already done her a dishonor by making love to her, but he didn't want to have to hide his love for her. He could leave Hogwarts and forfeit the position as her Professor – that way he could wed her and do the proper thing.

But Severus knew that he could not just leave Hogwarts and Albus like that. And who was to say that she would even want to marry him? He did believe that she loved him, but she might not have been ready to get married – not while she has so many possibilities for the future. He knew that their relationship would have to be put on hold for her academic pursuits eventually – but for how long?

'Severus, stop thinking, you'll drive yourself nutty and then where will we be,' she murmured as she pressed kisses along his shoulder.

He sighed, enjoying the vibration of her lips on his tingling skin as she spoke, and relaxed his shoulders in an effort to enjoy their last day together. 'I apologise – I was… in thought,' he said quietly.

Hermione nodded and slipped out of the bed, digging around in her trouser pocket for her wand, which she found and summoned a bathrobe from her room with. She pulled it on and fastened it shut, walking around the bed to stand in front of her distracted lover and friend. She cupped his cheek and turned his head up to look her in the eye.

'Let's go take a shower? I'll wash your back, and you can wash mine. What do you say to that?' she suggested with a mischievous gleam in her eyes.

Severus chuckled and summoned his own robe, slipping into it and standing to wrap his arms around Hermione tightly. 'I say that sounds like and excellent idea, Miss Granger. How ever do you come up with them?' he replied.

'It's a secret,' she teased, leading him towards his bathroom, pulling him along by the front of his black bathrobe.

Some time later, they were eating lunch, when a house elf popped into the room and went to Severus, whispering something into his ear. 'What do you mean he's here?' Severus demanded in annoyance, and Hermione looked up from her place, startled to hear the sternness in his voice that he usually reserved for teaching.

'Severus?' she asked softly.

He shook his head at her and sighed. 'Go and show him in then Missy,' he told the elf, closing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose as he waved her off with his other hand.

Hermione frowned slightly when the elf left and opened her mouth to say something, when he held up a hand to silence her. 'Before you explode, it is merely Remus, here to discuss something of so-called importance and to ruin my day,' he said tersely, opening his eyes and stabbing a tomato on his plate with his fork.

Hermione sighed heavily. 'Severus… I though you and Remus were getting along…'

'We are,' he interrupted. 'This is why he seems to believe that he can just drop by any time he likes when he knows that I am home.'

Hermione laughed at the absurdity of his reasoning and simply returned to the task of eating her lunch, as footsteps sounded in the hallway, coming towards the room that they were dining in. The door opened and Missy slipped inside, opening it further for Remus to enter in unhindered. She was a good house elf, Severus thought as he began to notice the little things that the elf did to make things easier for him and any guests that he cared to invite.

'Remus, how – magnanimous of you to join us,' Severus drawled with moderate sarcasm edging his tone.

Remus simply smiled and walked to Severus, extending a hand to shake. Severus, of course, stood to receive it, and shook his hand firmly, maintaining eye contact with Remus the entire time.

'Severus, it's good to see you,' he said politely, looking around, and then seeing Hermione, his eyes widened. 'Hermione, what are you doing here?'

Hermione waited until Remus came around the table to stand and offered him a hug and a small smile. 'I am Severus' guest for the holidays,' she replied, offering no other answer despite his curios gaze.

'Is that so?' he commented, looking over at Severus who had an eyebrow raised in challenge and a smirk playing on his lips.

'Yes, it is,' Severus replied for her. 'Now what is it you wanted? And seeing as you interrupted our lunch, you might as well sit and join us while you tell me why you chose to do so.'

Remus chuckled and sat across from Hermione as Severus resumed his seat this time next to his lover and best friend. 'Well, I was on my way back from London, when I remembered that I was supposed to help Dora plan for our wedding in a month's time,' he explained, as food appeared before him.

'And why would that matter concern me?' Severus asked curiously.

'Well… I was more or less hoping that you would be my best man or something of that description,' he replied carefully, gauging Snape's expression for a hint of what he was thinking.

Severus swallowed what he was eating, using a napkin to dab at the side of his mouth. 'Wouldn't Mr. Potter be a far more suitable candidate?' he asked shortly.

'I thought about it, but I decided that it might be a little awkward for him and well… I have known you for longer,' Remus said with a small grin. 'And do not suggest that I should choose Harry simply because he is James' son.'

Severus sighed. 'Will I be required to plan anything specific?' he asked in a tired tone that suggested he was going to give in.

'You will need to come with me for a suit fitting some time, and maybe dance with the maid of honor at the reception, but other than that, nothing,' he replied, confident that the taciturn man would agree.

'Alright then, I'll stand up with you at your nuptials, Remus,' he said curtly, rolling his eyes at the smirk on Hermione's face.

Actually, Hermione had been surprisingly silent the entire time that Remus had been there and didn't look like she was planning to say too much anyway. 'So when is the wedding?' she asked.

'On the 14th of February – it's a weekend, and we are getting married by the lake at Hogwarts with Albus presiding over the ceremony. The reception is planned for the Great Hall,' he said with an excited expression.

'St. Valentine's Day, how touching Remus,' Severus commented sarcastically.

'I think it's lovely,' Hermione said, bestowing a bright smile on her blushing former Professor and Order member. 'Tonks is a very lucky witch to have you Remus.'

Severus stiffened a little beside her as she said this, and she turned her head fractionally to see Severus now looking extremely unhappy. She sighed inwardly, knowing that it was because of what she had said to Remus, and rested her hand on his thigh, causing his eyes to jerk up and look at hers. She smiled at him, and gave his leg a squeeze, allowing her hand to travel a little further up as a reminder of what they had been engaging in earlier that morning.

She understood his insecurity. It was only the beginning of their relationship, and he was unsure and as scared as she was, if not worse in his case. She knew that he was so used to having the things he wanted so carelessly stripped away from him, and that he was scared of loosing her to another. She wanted to reassure him that that would never happen, but also knew that it would not soothe him just yet.

He stopped her hands path and gave it a squeeze, removing form his person, and looking up to see Remus gazing at the both with a smirk on his face a question in his eyes. Severus sighed. 'Go on Remus, you might as well ask,' he said reluctantly.

'What is going on between you two?' he asked finally.

'What do you think is going on, Werewolf?' Severus asked testily, his patience for entertaining guests wearing extremely thin.

'I think that you two are involved with each other,' he said simply, no sneers or comments, nothing.

'Well then, it is whatever you believe Lupin,' he said nonchalantly, taking Hermione's hand again beneath the table.

Hermione smiled at Remus and rubbed her thumb in circles over her lover's hand, caressing his long fingers with her thin and graceful ones. She really loved the feel of his skin. In fact, she had become quite addicted to touching him as often as she could when he was around. It was nearly impossible for her to be in the room without sitting on his lap or kissing him or both.

'Remus, I think that Severus and I would prefer that you didn't broadcast this until we are ready to. I hope that you understand and are not mad,' Hermione said quietly, looking up at Severus and receiving a short nod of approval.

'I understand, Hermione,' he answered. 'And Severus – I can only say that I am very happy for you. I'm glad I'm not the only one who could salvage some good after the war.'

Snape nodded and released Hermione's hand, resting it instead on her thigh, and rubbing up and down, caressing it gently. She had to bite down on the side of her mouth to prevent the moan that threatened to pass her lips. She feigned cool, and allowed him the liberty, using it to her advantage.

Severus smirked, admiring the flash in her eyes that told him he would be in for quite the ride with Hermione in his life. She had brought back the excitement and challenge, and he really could accomplish everything he had planned to do after the war.

Once thing Severus Snape knew for sure was that he would never let her go…


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter Nineteen

The classroom was quiet, save for the delicate simmering sounds of Potions bubbling in the cauldrons, and the sound of knives slicing and tapping against the boards with each slice. This was exactly the way he had always liked it; pure silent bliss as opposed to noise and lack of concentration. It seemed that over Christmas, the N.E.W.T. and O.W.L students had become more serious about their classes, and were behaving slightly better. Some of that may have been a result of their midterm from the exams before Christmas causing their parents to lecture them, but Severus didn't care why. He just wanted order to ensure nobody blew up.

He watched the Seventh year class from his seat at the head of the classroom, and made sure to keep and eye out for any students that may be adding things that they should not. Crabbe and Goyle had been notorious for doing that before their deaths. Neville Longbottom was guilty of that also. Thankfully, Longbottom had been unable to return to Potions due to his low marks in his O.W.L's.

Severus let his gaze sweep over the Slytherin's quickly, before resting his eyes fully on the Gryffindor's, one extremely lovely one in particular. She was working alone, as per usual, but instead of doing the Potion he had assigned the rest of the class, she was working on their joined project that was also her extra credit. There was no doubt in his mind that she could brew the Potions for minor burns.

She was gracefully chopping ingredients and carefully adding them to the cauldron one by one to ensure she did not contaminate the first trial to see which ingredients that were still missing. He stood slowly, and walked around the entire classroom, stopping momentarily at Harry's cauldron and nodding approval. The boys looked astounded, yet relieve at that, and relaxed a little, continuing with his work. Severus finally stopped at Hermione, and looked into the cauldron.

'What stage of the Potion are you up to, Miss Granger?' he asked quietly, barely above a whisper to her ears.

She turned to him and kept her face indifferent, but he could see the sparkle in her eyes that told him that she loved him. 'Stage three for now… It will be another ten minutes before I have to add the hellebore and leave it to stand for the night,' she said back just as quietly.

'Did you use an arithmetic equation to come up with a time scheme like I told you?' he asked carefully.

'Yes, thank you that was brilliant. I never would have thought of it myself,' she replied with a slight smile on her face.

'Stay after class,' he whispered, lightly touching her elbow as he swept past her on the way back to his desk. Nobody suspected a thing.

The last fifteen minute of class slowly crept past, and after Hermione had added the ingredients to begin stage four of the Potion, she turned off the heat and levitated the cauldron to a nearby bench, casting a magical cover over it so that nothing could contaminate it, and she began to flip through the progress journal and write down any relevant notes on her progress. When they were dismissed, Hermione packed up the notes she had spread extra carefully, which was really an excuse to go slower, and Harry gave her a cheeky wink before leaving.

The rest of the class cleared out pretty quickly and she put the last book into her bag as the door closed and the lock clicked in place. She stood up, and went straight to Severus, who stood in front of his desk, and jumped into his waiting arms. She crushed her lips to his and snogged him hard. It was the first time that she had been able to kiss him all week as they had been too busy getting back in to classes. It was finally Friday and she was going to take advantage of it. She ran her fingers through his hair and locked her legs around his waist, clinging like a limpet.

He pulled back after a while and kissed the end of her nose as he tried to regain his breath from their kiss. 'Gods I've missed you,' he growled breathlessly, before he kissed her again hard.

The nest time they pulled away, Hermione kissed along his jaw to his ear, which she nipped playfully. 'I've missed you too, my love. I saw you at every meal, in class and just wanted to throw myself at you and kiss you,' she murmured into his ear.

He smiled at that and pulled back so that he could look on her beloved face, tracing the slope of her nose, along her jaw, and the fullness of her lips with his thumb. 'Let's go to my rooms. You can tell me about your week,' he suggested, knowing very well that if they went there, talking was not all that would happen.

She nodded, and was about to remove her legs from his, when he stopped her, pulling her tight against him and walking with her wrapped around him to his office door. He muttered the password to his rooms and entered from the office, and kicked the entry door shut behind him. Hermione was going to comment on how chivalrous that was, but before she could, she was lying on her back on a chaise lounge, and his lips had captured hers once more.

Hermione responded fervently, not minding this position one bit. When doing this with him, she could certainly say that she thought talking was overrated. She allowed him to caress her, and began to fumble with the clasp of his robe as he kissed and kneaded her breasts gently outside her school robes. Once both of their robes were out of the way, Severus began the task of unbuttoning her modest school blouse, reveling her smooth, milky skin to him and placing kisses down her chest as he went.

'You are a goddess, my Hermione,' he said as kissed and laved a sensitive spot above her belly button.

She moaned and arched into the caress of his tongue on her flesh. 'Sev – Oh gods, that feels so good,' she moaned incoherently. 'Please, please…'

'Please what my little love?' he asked teasingly, pulling her blouse out of the waistband of her school shirt and peeling it back form her chest, revealing the modest white lace bra beneath her school attire, tracing a finger under the cup of one and caressing a nipple with his fingertip.

'More…' she pleaded, arching up, her eyes squeezed closed tightly.

Severus chuckled and discarded the shirt, flicking the clasp of the bra undone and tossing that aside to, revealing her smooth, milky breasts to him, the dusky pink nipples beginning to stir to attention. He did that to her just with his kisses and his touch. He lowered his head to take a nipple into his mouth and gave it a nip, soothing that with a swipe of his tongue. She whimpered, and laced her fingers through his hair, holding his head to her breast. He sucked on it for a while, before repeating the treatment on the other, and pulling back altogether.

She whimpered in displeasure, before she found that he had stood and was unbuttoning his frock coat, and then his crisp white shirt after it, peeling them both from his body with practiced ease. He returned to her side then, and released the button on the side of her skirt, drawing down the zipper and pulling the loosened fabric down her long, toned legs and throwing it with their other clothes. She was wearing modest white lace knickers to go with the bra.

'You are divine,' he hissed, dragging a finger along the crotch of her thoroughly damp knickers and inhaling the scent of her arousal. 'And you smell positively delectable, my dear.'

Hermione watched the seductive display from hooded eyes, watching as he licked his finger to taste her. He growled in approval, and tore her knickers off, and Hermione lifted her hips to assist the process. Once all of her clothes were off, he lowered his head to her core, and dragged his tongue form her sopping hole, to the peak of her clitoris, tasting her essence first-hand. His primal growl filled the room along with her purr of satisfaction, and he began to lick in earnest, plunging two fingers into her and sucking and nuzzling her clit.

He continued to tease her, building up the pressure low within her abdomen, until finally, he inner walls began to tremble around his fingers and her breathing becoming faster and harder. Hermione's orgasm shot through her the moment he touched the most sensitive spot within her, and he lapped up all of her juices, removing his fingers and softly nipping and sucking her as she calmed down.

When she had recovered, she sat up, and pulled Severus towards her, fastening her mouth to his and plunging her tongue in to taste her own essence on his tongue. He broke away from the kiss, pressing his forehead to hers and breathing rapidly as he tugged his trousers and cotton boxers down his legs, revealing his extremely engorged penis with drops of pearly fluid leaking from the tip.

'I need to have you now,' he said roughly.

'Take me,' she rasped back, taking his erection in her hand and guiding him to her wet centre.

He crushed his mouth to hers once more, and thrust home, filling and stretching her as she encased him smoothly. He pounded into her hard and fast, and when he felt her climax approaching, he held himself in check just long enough to stroke her clit and make her come around him, before finally releasing his seed into her womb. He shouted her name in ecstasy, collapsing on top of her.

After a while, their breathing became more controlled and he finally realized that he was probably too heavy for the woman beneath him, Severus tried to pull off. Hermione stopped him, wanting to keep him inside of her and on top of her. She locked her legs around him, and wrapped her arms around his waste, cocooning his body and his flaccid member within her.

'Stay, I don't want you to let go yet,' she murmured in exhaustion.

He nodded and instead of pulling out of her, rolled them onto their sides so that he would not squash her, but could remain joined with her. He didn't mind that she liked the intimacy of remaining coupled even after they had both climaxed. It comforted him too in a way, and he knew that in a few moments he would be ready for another go with her anyway. He had been tense all week because he had been unable to satisfy his own needs through masturbation.

Ordinarily, he found that kind of indulgence a waste of time and only second rate to the real thing, therefore he had not engaged in it. Except during the first week back from the holiday's, he had seen Hermione everywhere, and had not been able to touch or pleasure her, and had to do something to relieve the erections that he got when he heard her speak or smelled her shampoo.

'You re amazing, Severus,' she whispered against his shoulder as she planted soft kisses there.

He chuckled a little. 'You're not so bad yourself you enticing little witch,' he shot back, leaning in to nuzzle her neck and suck on it hard enough to leave a love bite.

'Severus, stop that,' she said with a giggle. 'I can't have you leaving marks like that when I have to walk around school…'

He lifted his head at that comment and kissed the end of her nose in reply. 'You know a good concealment charm I am sure, and I like to mark what is mine,' he replied, kissing her lips tenderly.

Hermione smiled, knowing full well that he was claiming her as his own. 'As long as you realize that you are mine,' she murmured lovingly, bringing one hand to cup and stroke his cheek and the sharp bone of his jaw. 'I will not stand for you having another lover, Severus. I want you to promise me that I am the only one…'

He held her tighter and closed his eyes. 'I promise love… you and nobody else for the rest of my life,' he said in an uncharacteristically emotional voice.

There was nothing but the sound of breathing and the crackle of the fire for a while, until Hermione remembered that she had a question to ask Severus. 'Sev – it's your birthday next week…' she began.

He tensed up and pulled out of her and away from her suddenly, turning to sit up on the lounge with his back to her. She sat up, wondering why he had this reaction to the mention of his birthday. 'Severus, what – did I say something wrong?' she asked, sitting up on her knees and wrapping her arms around his waist, placing a gently kiss on the side of his neck.

He took a deep breath and sighed heavily. 'No Hermione… you didn't say or do anything wrong,' he said tensely. 'It's just… I was trying to forget that I will be turning 38 in five days… I feel old... In fact, I am far too old for you…'

Hermione lifted a hand to his lips and pressed her finger against them, hushing his words so that he couldn't finish. 'Don't say that, Severus. You're not so much older than me in the Wizarding world. It hardly counts at all…' she reasoned. 'I love you, and I will not let our ages get in the way of that.'

He relaxed a little and pressed his lips closer to her fingers to kiss them. 'You are a strange witch, Hermione, consorting with the likes of me… however,' he began, and sensing her protest, turned and kissed her mouth. '… However, I am glad that you love me. I don't know where I would be now without you…'

She smiled against his mouth at that, and kissed him briefly. 'Let's go take a shower and then I'll just floo back to my room and get dressed for dinner there, okay?' she suggested.

He nodded and lifted her into his arms, striding in the direction of the bathroom. He set her down and summoned all of their clothes and put them in the hamper that got collected and washed by the elves. He pulled them both into the shower and the water cascaded over the both of them as the lathered each other in soap, being careful to pay extra attention to certain places, and after twenty minutes, came out and towel dried each other gently.

Hermione did go back to her rooms after that, and got dressed in a Muggle sweater and jeans and headed out of her room, arriving at Gryffindor tower just in time to catch Harry and Neville exiting the common room to go to dinner.

'Hey guys,' she said with a smile.

'Hey 'Mione,' Neville replied with a grin and a look in his eyes that Hermione knew meant that he still had feelings for her.

Harry just chuckled and put his arm around her shoulders and she put her around his waist in a sisterly gesture. 'What did you get up to this afternoon?' he asked with a mischievous gleam in his eye.

Hermione snorted at his sense of subtlety. 'Wouldn't you like to know?' she replied, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.

Harry gave her a pained look that said he really didn't need that mental image, and she just smiled and batted her lashes innocently, and Neville wondered what they were talking about. 'Hermione, need to know basis, please,' Harry said in a hushed voice so that only she could hear him.

'You asked,' she hissed back.

They continued on to the Great Hall, and sat down at the Gryffindor table, Hermione wedged between the two males that had flanked her as she entered. She managed to sneak a few glances up at her lover in between courses, only to find his eyes trained on her with a thoughtfulness filling them. She would have to ask him about that later. And then Harry nudged her out of her thoughts.

'Hermione, did you know you have a love bite?' he whispered.

Her hand immediately slapped over it, and she looked up at Severus who was simply smirking at her as she made to conceal it. He would pay for that…


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter Twenty

There were many different trinkets and beautiful glass objects that lined the shelves in the shop. It was a rather unusual shop for Diagon Alley, but then again, it was only new and new things had become popular since after the war. Hermione had been there for about twenty minutes, looking over everything to see if something caught her eye that she figured Severus would like. Severus had chaperoning duties in Hogsmeade with the other Students, and as Minerva had planned to go to London, she asked Hermione to go along with her.

Hermione had accepted right away, believing that it would be a perfect opportunity to find Severus a birthday gift for his birthday in three days time. However, she did realize that Minerva had not just invited her for nothing. There was definitely a motive behind the way she had asked and Hermione was going to make sure she found out before the end of the day.

'Hermione, what on earth do you want to purchase in this shop?' Minerva asked curiously, and Hermione examined a glass cauldron.

'Well, I like to think of Severus as a highly unusual man, who likes books and learning and things that are different, much like himself,' Hermione explained thoughtfully. 'I figured that I would find something here.'

'You're buying Severus a gift?' she asked, astonished.

'Well it is his birthday on Wednesday, so I thought it would only be prudent to come up with something to give him,' Hermione replied, lifting a glass stirring rod and testing it in the Potions bubbling away beside it.

'That is thoughtful of you,' Minerva said with a proud smile. Severus deserved to be loved and gifted upon. 'I usually just buy him a book and hand it to him.'

Hermione stifled a laugh, and continued down the row, until she spotted them. Four hand-blown glass vials with jewels attached to the stoppers. The glass was clear, and in elegantly twists and each had a different jewel atop it. There was an emerald; Severus' Slytherin snark could represent that, a ruby; representing his anger, a Diamond; showing his pure loyalty and love, and an amethyst; his romantic and sensitive side that she was blessed enough to bear witness to.

'These are perfect,' Hermione exclaimed, reading the parchment attached. 'They have built in stasis charms and are unbreakable to anything.'

'Those would be ideal for Severus. I do not believe he is in possession of any, so he would love this,' Minerva said knowingly.

'I hope so,' Hermione said, picking up the rack that they were being held in and took it with her to the counter to buy them.

The salesman greeted them gruffly, and took each of the four vial and placed them into a box amongst Muggle protection foam. He closed the lid and with a flick of his wand, she had it wrapped in silver with green ribbon holding it shut. Minerva nodded in approval and Hermione paid the fifty galleons from her inheritance fund to the man and left satisfied with her purchase. Severus would like them – she just knew it in the back of her mind.

Later they went to have lunch at the Leaky Cauldron, and Hermione found herself enjoying her time with the Transfiguration Professor. They chatted affably and soon it was time for them to go back to Hogwarts before the rest of the students returned to the castle from Hogsmeade. Hermione Apparated to back to the gates, and Minerva appeared next to her shortly after.

'I hope you enjoyed your morning,' Minerva said with a pleasant smile at the younger witch.

'I did, thank you for asking me to come along with you,' Hermione replied, hugging the older woman who had always been like a mother to her.

'Well, I am glad that you accepted and managed to get your present for Severus,' she said, and then grinned. 'Now, we'd better get you back to the castle so that you're back in time for Severus' return.'

Hermione stopped then and announced a decisive 'Ha!' at the woman. 'I knew it!' she cried out triumphantly.

'What?' Minerva exclaimed in an undignified tone that was not usual for her.

'I knew you were going to bring him up like that… Is there something you wanted to ask me about?' Hermione inquired softly, beginning to walk again with Minerva alongside her.

Minerva laughed softly and shook her head. 'Hermione… I just wanted to tell you that I am very happy for the two of you. Severus deserves to be loved, and you deserve his love in return,' she said. 'I approve of your relationship, and I just want you to know that Albus and I will be there for you.'

Hermione smiled and nodded. 'Thank you, Professor, I appreciate it,' she said as they walked.

'Call me Minerva,' she said softly.

They returned to the castle in silence and Hermione went straight to her chambers and deposited her purchases in her trunk and went down to her common room. She sat down with the new book she bought herself by a Master in Charms, a Professor Yasushi Ishii from the Conservatorium in Japan. She had a feeling that something in it would be able to help her with her Potions extra credit. Severus would be pleased when she brought the book to him. He had mentioned the man a few times to her, and she had finally decided to buy some of the books.

She was just through the first section when there was a knocking on the panel beside the portrait guarding her chambers. She got up and figured it would be Harry and Neville most likely. She was right, and Luna was with them, so she let them in and went upstairs to grab the things she got for them.

'Here you go, Harry,' she said as she tossed a new set of Quidditch gloves at him – the ones he had been admiring in the Quidditch supply stores in Hogsmeade since before she got injured.

'Wow, Hermione thanks,' he said, with a bright smile.

'That's fine,' she said with a shrug, tossing a bag at Luna which had been filled with various bright jewels and a hair accessory.

'Thanks,' Luna said with a grin, sitting on Harry's lap sideways.

'And this one's for you Neville,' she said, tossing him a book which he caught to everyone's surprise.

They all sat and talked for about an hour until it was three in the afternoon, and her friends finally departed, enabling her to go down to the Dungeons to visit Severus for a while. She went to the floo and grabbed some powder, tossing it in and watching the flames turn green. She stepped into it and stated Severus' chambers and appeared there not too long after, to find Severus sitting on the lounge in front of the fire with his socked feet propped up on the coffee table, in no more than a partially open black shirt and his black trousers with a book in his hands.

'Afternoon, love,' she said with a smile, walking over to him and leaning down to give him a kiss.

He tilted his head up to receive her kiss with his mouth, and allowed it to deepen a little before she drew back. He then pulled her onto his lap and put the book down, enfolding her in his arms and resting his chin atop her hair. 'Good afternoon Hermione,' he replied softly with a heavy sigh.

'You sound exhausted,' she commented.

'Your fellow classmates were more trouble than I anticipated,' he replied.

Hermione chuckled and slid a hand into his shirt, toying with the fine hairs on his chest and pinching his nipple a little. His hips gave an involuntary jerk upwards at that and she grinned, feeling him swell beneath her. His head rolled back a little as she caressed his lightly muscled chest, leaning forwards to kiss his chest where he was exposed to her hungry gaze.

He took her chin between his fingers and moved her head back so he could look in her eyes. 'Now, now, none of that today, my dear,' he said, calming himself back down.

She pouted at him, and looked at him imploringly until he could take the look anymore and released her chin. She smiled brightly and wrapped her arms around his neck, snuggling into his embrace more.

'I bought some books today,' she murmured against his neck.

'What kind of books?' he asked, running his long fingers through her hair loosely and stroking her hip outside of her sweater.

'Yasushi Ishii,' she replied. 'I thought I'd look through some of them for ideas for the charms to fuse with the Potion…'

'That was a very good idea,' he conceded, kissing the top of her hair.

She smiled against his neck and placed a few gentle kisses there, and then began to nip and suck on one spot in particular. Severus smirked and took her chin between his fingers, prying her from his neck and forcing her to look him in the eye.

'What on earth are you doing, love?' he asked with a daring edge in his voice.

She grinned. 'Just pay back for the mark you left on me the other day. Harry noticed it in the Great Hall because I had forgotten to conceal it. You know that I forgot to you git. I saw your smirk. I hope you forget all about this and you walk into the hall looking like a sex-starved woman marked you,' she murmured back.

He chuckled. 'I will not forget this now you sex-starved witch,' he said, lifting her into his arms and abruptly standing and walking with her in his arms to the bedroom.

He wanted to show her that she most certainly was not a sex-starved witch, and catered to her desires three times before pleasuring her in the shower as they washed away the strain of the day as well as the smell of sex on their skin before they had to go to the Great Hall. After they stumbled out of the water and dried each other, Hermione summoned a pair of clean jeans and a white blouse from his bedroom, where a few pairs of her clean clothes had been placed so that she wouldn't have to rush off to her room to get changed all of the time.

By the time they were mostly dressed; Severus gave up and sat on the edge of his bed, watching as Hermione fastened the last few buttons of her blouse. She finished and looked over at him, noticing that he was only wearing his trousers and had his shirt open the entire way as his eyes followed her every movement. She closed the space between them and kissed him gently.

'Severus, we have to go to dinner soon,' she reminded him as she coaxed him into the kiss.

'I'm not going. I'll send a note to Albus and take dinner down here,' he replied, breaking their kiss and giving her a proprietary pat on the bottom to urge her towards the door.

'Can I stay with you then?' she asked hopefully. 'I wont be able to come back down here until later in the week, and I'll miss being with you like this.'

'You should really spend some time with your friends before Mr. Potter begins to think that I am keeping you from them,' he reasoned carefully. 'Besides, you don't need to be here with an old git like me.'

'Severus, we've been through this – you are not old and ugly. You are beautiful and I love you, and I am staying now whether you like it or not,' she said firmly. 'Now finish getting dressed and I'll send the note to the Headmaster and tell him that we are both staying here and eating. We can even go through the new books I bought today so that we actually get something constructive done.'

He smiled at his bossy little witch and nodded in defeat. 'Very well, as you wish my love,' he said with a sigh as his beloved left the room. 'You might as well bring down night clothes and sleep here tonight as well.'

She ducked her head back into his bedroom and flashed him a brilliant grin, before departing quickly and leaving his to button and tuck his shirt into his pants, put on his frock coat, and grab his teaching robes to hang on the coat stand by the door. He had hall duty for an hour later on, and he would leave Hermione to do some homework as she waited for him to return.

They ate dinner in companionable silence and had the elves come to collect the dishes, before moving on to begin further research into their project. At ten past ten Severus got up and pulled on his teaching robes so that he could go to his duties and report to Albus that everything was in order. While he was away, Hermione continued with her work and found several promising charms in a book by Professor Ishii that was primarily for medical use but turned out to be relevant to their Potion also. She also found another couple of charms she thought she should let Severus know about.

So, when he returned, taking off his robes and coat and hanging them up, she immediately pounced on him with the results of her search. She pulled him down to sit beside her and thrust the book at him, pointing with her finger.

'Severus, I think I found something that we could use. I found about seven different Healing and critical curse damage charms and fusion charms that may help in the brewing process with some ingredients that don't ordinarily mix in together,' she said so quickly that he barely caught on to what she was saying at him.

He stilled her lips with a soft kiss. 'Calm down love, and we'll go from the beginning, although, perhaps a little slower this time,' he said soothingly.

She blushed and smiled sheepishly, before taking a deep breath and starting from the beginning, telling him all about her ideas. At one point, she would not have felt comfortable with Severus, telling him all of her ideas so openly and unabashedly. He used to intimidate her so, but now he listened with a loving patience, actually listening and helping her develop the ideas further. When she was finished, he nodded in approval and took up his journal.

'Very well, these are all possibilities, and I think we will work with the nerve damage charm, the fusion charm and the critical curse one for now, and see what else might fit in later,' he reasoned, writing them all down and marking pages.

Hermione smiled brightly, and then realized that it was quite late when she looked at the clock on the fire mantelpiece. 'We should go to be, you have to teach tomorrow,' she suggested, standing and holding a hand out to him.

He nodded in agreement, stifling a yawn and walking hand in hand with Hermione as she led them towards his bedroom. She changed into her ruby red night shirt and slipped beneath the covers as he pulled on charcoal sleeping trousers and snuggled against her, wrapping his arms around her.

They murmured goodnight and fell asleep…


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter Twenty-One

The clock in the other room began to chime loudly. It was five in the morning. Groaning, the singular occupant in the bedroom rolled over and tugged a pillow over his head. He was not only angry that that clock had awoken, but he was reminded that not only was it a new day, it was his birthday – the day of the year he dreaded most. He was finally 38 years old, and much too old for his liking. The least time could have done for him was make him look his age instead of older.

Sighing, he pushed himself up into a sitting position of the bed with his legs slung over the side. Severus then stood and went to the bathroom, washing his face and examining it in the mirror above the basin. He had fewer lines marking his skin than he had before the war, so he could say that his looks had improved, though marginally, since then. He had no idea why Hermione even loved this face.

Not wanting to question or tem fate any further, he gave up on scrutinizing himself, and went to take a shower. He dressed in his normal black attire, and robes, and went to his private workroom to check on the first trial of his and Hermione's Potion. It was in it's final stages and needed monitoring every nine hours. He had checked it just before going to bed the night before.

Three hours later he was in the Great Hall for breakfast. He sat in his usual seat beside Albus, hoping that the old man would keep his trap shut for once.

'Good morning Severus, and Happy Birthday,' he exclaimed loudly enough for the other staff to hear.

Minerva had to cover her mouth with a napkin as she laughed at the look that fell over Severus' pale features. He narrowed his eyes at the Headmaster as the rest of the staff present followed suit and wished him a happy birthday. 'Brilliant,' he muttered under his breath as he absently stabbed at a sausage.

'Oh, cheer up you grouch,' Pomona Sprout said gleefully, not backing down even when Severus threw a glare at her.

After breakfast, Severus went back to his office in a mood, summoning his notes for class and storming back to his classroom to prepare the notes on the board for his third years to copy down. He hated his Birthday. He hated today, and he hated teaching. He went through the same routine every year, but it still stung just as much every year. He hated getting older – getting too old to have a life.

His first class arrived five minutes later, all chatting loudly. For some reason, this got on his nerves more than usual. 'Get inside quickly and begin taking the notes from the board,' he snapped at them, and they all went dead silent and went in to do as he had told them. 'And when you're done, turn to page 349 and make a summary of chapter twelve for you homework.'

One Slytherin boy had the nerve to groan aloud, and Severus walked over to him and leaned down, glowering at him coldly. 'Twenty points from Slytherin for your cheek, Stevens,' he said darkly.

No one dared to even breathe loudly for the rest of the lesson, and left as soon as they could when they were dismissed to their next class. Severus returned to his office and slumped into his chair. He had a free period before the next class. He pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes, leaning back in his chair just a little and groaning as his head throbbed. Bloody hell – what next?

He summoned a headache Potion and gulped it down in one, cringing at the slightly bitter taste of it and leaning forwards on his arms to rest his head for a little while. He was tired, and bitter and angry – not to mention in pain. This was why he hated his birthday so much. What was the point of having birthdays? You just got older and more incapable of the simplest of things.

'Severus, may I come in?' said a voice from the doorway.

He sat up sharply and looked to the doorway, only to see Minerva standing there with a small, understanding smile on her face. 'I don't see why not,' he said, indicating a seat for her to sit in.

'Severus, don't you dare for one moment think that you are the only one who despises growing older. You most certainly are not,' Minerva said in a tone that gently scolded him. 'I am far older than you, and have more to worry over age.'

'Women live longer,' he murmured quietly.

'Oh stop that nonsense. _Some_ women outlive others, while some do not. I would like to think that I am one of the ones that may live longer, however, my family line has been littered with witches that have unusually short lives,' she said in a strained voice. 'I do understand how you feel.'

Severus sighed and swallowed before he found the courage to admit what was making this year worse than others. 'I – I'm worried that I am too old for her – Hermione. I feel too old for her and like I will just hold her back from her life,' he said with a soft sigh, rubbing his sore eyes. 'I don't want to be a burden.'

'Severus, you are not too old at all. Do stop feeling so sorry for yourself and just take it as it comes,' Minerva scolded firmly. 'That girl loves you a great deal. You both deserve each other, and I expect you to take care of her and treat her well.'

'I would never treat her poorly,' he said immediately.

'I know that, but I am just warning you. You might be angry at the moment, but do not take out your insecurities on her,' Minerva said imploringly.

'I won't do that, Minerva. I can assure you of that,' he promised.

'Good,' she said, standing from the seat, and pulling a wrapped package from her robes with a small smile. 'Happy Birthday, Severus.'

She put the gift on his desk in front of him and left the office. He sat and stared at the gift for a while, until he tentatively reached for it and lifted it closer to examine it. It weighed and felt just like a book. Typical Minerva – she always got him a book. But then again, she could have done much worse and bought all sorts of horrible things for him – like Albus did. He remembered receiving a particularly lurid pair of purple socks one year, but had lately just received candies that he would never eat.

He smiled at the last gift he recalled. It was a particularly large box of lemon sherbets that only Albus ever ate when he was in Severus' chambers. Sighing, he picked himself up from his chair and went back to the classroom to erase the board from the previous class and put up those for the next class – Double Potions with the useless Hufflepuff-Ravenclaw class.

As promised, his class arrived on time, and probably hearing from the third years, went to the classroom without making any noise, and sitting down without making a peep. He almost smiled evilly at them. He gave them the instructions, and they all wrote notes before getting out their cauldrons and other equipment and beginning to brew their potion for the day.

The class sped past and Lunch was on their heels. He ordered his class to clean up after they had finished brewing and bottle samples for him and to leave. He stored the samples in a section he had left clear for them and went to lunch also, suddenly hungry after not eating breakfast properly that morning. He ate a sandwich in silence, giving his colleagues withering looks, and sweeping his gaze over the students.

He caught sight of Hermione down on the Gryffindor table, sitting with Harry and Neville, chatting amiably and smiling brightly. He felt his heart lighten then, just seeing her had made him feel a little bit better. He was still surprised how that had happened and felt his features soften a bit more. He swallowed his last bite of food and got up from the table, nodding to Albus and Minerva as he left, watching Hermione with her friends as he walked away.

He returned to his office to find that there was a package sitting on his desk with a note attached to it. He unfolded the parchment, and stared down at the neat and cursive writing that he knew all too well. It was from his Hermione. She had been down there, and he had missed her. Damn!

_Dearest Severus,_

_I came down here and wanted to see you, but you were already out for lunch. I'm sorry I borrowed some parchment and your quill to write this. I just wanted to say Happy Birthday, and I will come down to visit you later tonight if that is agreeable with you. I hope you enjoy your present!_

_Love Always,_

_H._

He smiled at the letter, and folded it carefully, tucking into his pocket, before examining the large wrapped parcel on his desk. It was in silver paper with a Slytherin Green ribbon fastened on it decoratively. His heart swelled, and he immediately began the process of unwrapping it without damaging the paper or the ribbon in the process. When the paper fell apart smoothly, he saw four individual boxes. He lifted the lid of one and almost gasped, and then opened the other three too.

Before him was the most exquisite set of glass Potions vials he had ever seen. Each had a jeweled stopper of different colour and looked to be hand blown glass of the finest quality. When did she have the time to go to all of this effort for him? His heart swelled with love for his witch, as he picked up one and began to examine it. It was flawless, and when he cast a charm on it to see how secure it was, he found that it would hold anything, and was break proof.

'Smart girl,' he murmured to himself.

The rest of the day passed rather quickly after that, and he release his last class in a better mood than he had been in all day, or ever on his birthday. That simple and beautiful gesture from Hermione had brightened him up considerably, and he had not assigned this class any homework. He retreated to his chambers with the few gifts from his colleagues and Hermione, placing hers in spot where he could admire them for a while, depositing the book on a table in his library, and slumping onto his bed tiredly.

He slept for a while, and woke to take a shower, before going to the Great Hall for dinner. He ate in silence, but this time, when someone spoke to him, he didn't bite their head off.

'How was your day, Severus?' Filius asked from beside him.

'Passable,' he replied quietly.

'Oh wonderful, I heard the students mentioning that you were a tad unhappy earlier this morning, but I'm glad it has only improved,' Flitwick squeaked sincerely.

'Yes, my day has improved significantly since then,' he replied politely, inkling his head at the older Wizard.

'Well, I say Severus, that is a first,' Albus said cheerfully, causing chuckling to erupt along the table.

Severus merely narrowed his eyes at the old man and returned to eating his food without speaking to anyone. Once dinner was over, he returned to his chambers and went to his bathroom, brushing his teeth and changing into his sleeping trousers and pushing his feet into a pair of slippers as he exited to go to read. He reached the sitting room and stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Hermione there.

'Hermione…' he said softly.

She smiled at him and walked to him, wrapping her arms around his waist, pressing a kiss to his chest. 'I did say that I would be coming down here,' she murmured, continuing to kiss upwards until she reached his lips and pinned him with a hard, possessive kiss – their first kiss since the weekend.

When she broke away, she released him and allowed his gaze to travel over her. She was wearing her school robes, and to this he let his eyebrow quirk up in question. She smirked and led him towards his bedroom, making him sit down on his bed, standing out of his reach and grinning secretively.

'Be patient, my love,' she said with a smirk at his impatience.

'I have been deprived of you for long enough, Hermione,' he growled, reaching out for her to come to him again. 'I will not wait any longer, minx. Now come to me.'

She shook her head. 'Ah, ah Severus,' she chastened lightly. 'I make the rules tonight, and you will hav to behave yourself or I will just leave.'

He smirked and dropped his arms at her assertiveness. She began unbuttoning her robes, peeling them off to revel that she was wearing the sexiest thing he had ever seen. She was wearing dark green lingerie with silver embroidery and matching suspenders that held her sheer hose to her lacy knickers. Overall, he was as aroused as a man could be with his witch standing in the middle of his room in no more than a few scraps of lace, silk and cotton.

'Wow,' he said breathlessly.

She smiled wickedly at that. 'I'm glad you approve,' she said, teasingly running her hand along the top edge of her knickers resting on her hips and letting her hand slip beneath the material as she rubbed herself a little.

'Merlin…Hermione…' he said, feeling his arousal becoming painfully hard. If he didn't touch her soon, he would be spending himself prematurely.

'Do you like this, watching me touch myself?' she asked seductively in a way that surprised him a little. Who would have thought that someone so seemingly innocent could be so damn seductive?

'Yes… gods, I love seeing you touch yourself,' he said as her other hand cupped one of her breasts and squeezed.

'Oh? So you don't want to touch me? Shall I just pleasure myself tonight?' she asked innocently, walking towards him as she removed her hand from her breast and her knickers.

'No, I want to touch you,' he said raggedly. 'Please, gods… let me touch you love. Let me make love to you…'

She smiled in satisfaction, gently pushing him backwards to lie flat on his back, before she swung a leg over him and straddled his hips, grinding her moist centre into his hardness. 'That's good. Consider this to be your second birthday present,' she said, leaning in and kissing him forcefully, grinding her core into him.

When she came back up for air, they slowly removed her undergarments, and his sleeping trousers were disposed of pretty quickly following that. Severus then proceeded to torment and tease her just as much as she had him, brining her near to release, and then backing off and kissing her mouth. After he could hold on no longer, he claimed her and brought both of them to their release in short order, repeating the process three times before they fell asleep in each others arms.

That night, Severus slept with a look of contentment on his face for the first time he ever had on his birthday, and it had all been because of Hermione. He would have to remember to ask where she had gotten her under garments from. He had really enjoyed removing them, and wondered if she had any more, and what he would have to do to convince her to wear it more often.

He grinned and wrapped his arms around his witch tighter, closing his eyes and letting her snuggled further back to him. He was the happiest man alive, and he wondered just before sleep claimed him, if Hermione would ever consider marrying him. He resolved to think a little more on that, considering there were only four months left of the school year, and Hermione would graduate.


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter Twenty-Two

Many days, the occupants of Hogwarts had awoken to the sound of the Giant Squid in the Lake screeching out it's morning call as though it were a cock crowing. But for the last three days, there had been no infernal screeching, and the creature had not been spotted. Hagrid had been sent in search for it, but had come back empty handed, and so the other Professors resolved to assist in finding the creature. Severus had been assigned the night watch over the lake and surrounding areas, to wait and see if there was anything to indicate that the Squid as still there.

But it had already been two nights, and he was reluctant to sit out in the late winter chill and search for a creature that might be dead or simply not there. Besides, it was near impossible to see anything with all of the lake frozen over as it was. Hermione had been extremely lonely those nights, and her birthday was fast approaching. Soon she would be nineteen, and with all of the fuss about the missing lake monster, she felt that it would be forgotten completely.

It was in just two days, that coming Saturday on a chilly morning in February. Severus knew very well that it was her birthday, and he intended to ensure that it was one that she would never forget. In fact, the majority of the time he spent on watch, he was contemplating just what he could do for her. He would go to discuss it with Albus later that night if time permitted it.

'Severus,' called a voice that was approaching from the castle.

He turned to look over his shoulder as he sat perched stiffly on a large rock nearby the lake and saw Rolanda Hootch approaching. He slipped down from his seat and strode over towards the woman, passing her the pile of toys that Albus and Hagrid had left for the great stupid creature.

'These are to entertain him if he should reappear,' he said gruffly.

'How ridiculous,' said the woman, obviously about as happy about this whole ridiculous affair as he was?

Severus nodded and brushed past her abruptly, heading back to the castle to take a hot shower, and crawl back into his warm bed with Hermione, whom he had left there alone for his watch. He hoped she had decided to stay there, but he would understand if she hadn't. It was a school night to begin with, and furthermore, who would honestly wait around after all of the fuss?

He reached his chambers and was delightfully surprised to find that his beloved was sleeping in her red cotton night dress, tucked snuggly beneath the covers as she hugged a pillow to her body where his warmth was missing. He chuckled softly and went for his hot shower, pulling on his cotton sleep pants, before finally slipping into bed beside Hermione and gently prying the pillow away so that he could lie on it. With his movement however, she stirred from her slumber and sleepily came to focus on his face, smiling slightly.

'You're back,' she commented, releasing the pillow in favor of wrapping her arms around his middle instead.

'Indeed,' he mumbled, kissing her forehead and wrapping his long arms around her slight form too; pulling her quite close.

'What time is it?' she asked, covering her mouth as she yawned.

'It's around two. We have another four hours to sleep,' he replied, snuggling under the covers and closing his eyes as her drooped closed also. 'Go back to sleep love. We'll talk in the morning.'

Hermione nodded sleepily against his chest and they fell asleep together, breathing steadily but deeply and warming each other from the cold of the air as the fire had burnt out. At six, Severus' mind alarm went off, and he opened his eyes, fumbling for his wand, and snatching it from the nightstand nearest him. He flicked it in the general direction of the fireplace and had it going again in no time with fresh wood, before tossing it aside and going back to sleep.

Thirty minutes later, at Hermione's insistence, they got out of bed and showered together, both dressing in their respective uniforms for the day; she in her school robes and he in his black, buttoned-up teaching attire. With a final sweet kiss, Hermione returned to her rooms and left Phoenix tower, meeting up with Harry and Neville on their way to breakfast that morning. They arrived at the Great Hall, and the two boys, flanking Hermione on either side, began to eat with enthusiasm.

'What's got you two in such good moods?' she asked curiously.

'Classes have been cancelled for the day because they found the Giant Squid just outside the gates of Hogwarts dead,' Neville replied as Harry nodded, chewing and swallowing his food.

'How on earth is that possible?' she exclaimed.

'Beats us, but Hagrid was distraught from what Dean said and Professor Dumbledore proclaimed a day of mourning in preparation for the dawn funeral tomorrow in it's honor,' Harry said after taking a mouthful of pumpkin juice.

'Did it die naturally, or do you s'pose someone set this up?' Neville asked to no one in particular.

'I'm guessing this is a set up,' Hermione replied. 'It seems totally deliberate.'

'Not to mention totally pointless. It hardly makes anyone other than Professor Dumbledore and Hagrid the least bit upset,' Harry added. 'I never liked it, since it held me up by my ankle in fourth year, but I never wanted the poor beggar dead. It seemed mostly harmless.'

'It was more dangerous than you think Harry,' Hermione said matter-of-factly. 'I was reading _Fantastic Beasts and Where to find them_ a while back and it mentioned that they had a high star ranking if not trained in properly.'

'Well Godric Gryffindor himself put that in there, and it has been around for long enough to know right or wrong,' Neville commented.

Hermione nodded and sighed, looking up to Severus at the Head table and seeing him talking to Albus beside him. She liked the way he looked so clean that morning. She had washed him and his hair after all, and that just made her desire him all the more. He finally looked her way and smiled a little for her sake, for which he received a beaming smile for his effort.

After breakfast, Harry and Neville went with Luna, Dean and Seamus to the Quidditch pitch to play a game, while Hermione feigned going to the Library and doing homework, and once they had left her, she Flooed down to Severus' chambers. She saw that he was not there, so she grabbed her journals and went to his private lab where they had been brewing their joint project. She made some notes on the progress, and tested a little to ensure that it was at the correct temperature, before settling o one of the high stools with the book.

'Hermione, are you here?' asked a familiar male voice.

She smiled and went to the door that opened into the classroom, and waited for her lover to walk through. She grinned and threw her arms around him in a greeting hug, and was pleased when he embraced her back tightly. 'The Potion is doing well,' she said into his robes.

'Glad to hear it,' he said, setting her back on her feet.

'Severus, what is going on? I know that Squid didn't get there and die on its own,' she asked, looking up at him. 'There is more to it, isn't there?'

Severus sucked in a deep breath, and expelled it slowly, trying to think of how he could put this simply for her. 'It seems, that out putting Lucius Malfoy in Azkaban has annoyed a few people, and they are aware that Albus and I are involved as well as you,' he said softly. 'I believe that whatever these people were trying to do is make a statement or scare us. Either way, we are not buying it.'

'That's horrible,' she exclaimed, not bothering to hide her disgust. 'And these are the actions of a human being? They are animals.'

'I understand what you mean. These renegade Wizards, as they calls themselves, left a note demanding the release of Lucius. Draco has no idea who they are, and Narcissa seems to be oblivious also,' he added.

'How is she? Narcissa, that is?' Hermione asked.

'Oh, she is fine. Albus has placed her under the care of a Housekeeper in the South of France for the time being. Draco is visiting her this weekend,' he replied, walking in to sit on one of the stools and look at her morning notes.

'Will you ask Draco to send my best to her for me?' she asked.

'I will do that if it pleases you for me to,' he replied sincerely, giving her a small smile much like the one had had earlier at breakfast. 'Now how long do you suppose it will be before the next lot of ingredients needs to be added?'

'Well, I was doing some arithmetical calculations over the weekend and I have figured out that we will be able to add the last ingredients in two days time, at Midnight, before the Potion will need to simmer for a day, and sit for three,' she replied, opening her private notebook and holding out the figures and summations to him. 'I wanted to let you check them incase I was wrong.'

'These are accurate. Now the only thing we really have left to do is wait, and then begin the testing process,' he said with a nod of approval and pride.

'Do I have your permission to stay here for the day?' she asked, with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

'It all depends,' he said with a smirk of his own.

Hermione pouted playfully, idly walking towards him and settling herself to stand between his long thighs, with her hands on either of his shoulders. 'What if I make it worth your while, Professor?' she said, whispering seductively into his ear. 'I'll be a very good girl, I promise.'

'Are you propositioning one of your Professor's Miss Granger?' he asked in a low, drawling voice, that he knew drove her insane with want.

'Perhaps,' she murmured softly, nipping his earlobe gently between her teeth, before applying those dame teeth to his neck as his arms came around her. 'Would that be bad of me?'

'Oh yes, very bad Miss Granger,' he agreed, tilting his head aside to allow her more room as she devoured his smooth skin.

'Well then…' she said breathily, leaning in further and kissing her way up his neck, and finally meeting his lips with her own.

He growled and stood from the stool, picking her up and having her wrap her legs around him so that he could transport them back to his chambers so that they could explore more amorous pursuits as they waited for their Potion. Two hours later, they were both dressed once more, sitting on a lounge in his chambers, with him reading, and Hermione seated across his lap, gently stroking his damp hair from their shower.

'Severus, what are we going to do about the Squid from the lake? I mean, if someone has a grudge against us, we can't just ignore it, can we?' Hermione asked softly.

'No, my love, we can not ignore it this time I'm afraid, but we will have to wait,' he said softly. 'I have an idea who is orchestrating this, but until the next time they strike, there is little we can do without solid proof.'

'Severus… I don't want to lose you,' Hermione whispered softly into his neck.

'You won't ever lose me, my pet,' he said in reply, kissing the top of her hair and using his free arm to draw her closer to him, holding her there.

'I don't understand why, but it seems that I am everyone's favourite target or something,' she said quietly. 'I hate being hunted. I hate being the victim and I hate being used as an excuse to do people and creatures harm.'

'I understand what you are saying, Hermione,' he replied soothingly. 'In my years as a spy I was subjected to the very same thing. But in a way, it is different. It was my own choice to be in that situation, as a result of my foolish mistakes. You are an unwilling victim, and that makes it all the worse.'

Hermione smiled sadly, and wrapped her arms around his neck tighter, feeling her eyes burn with the unshed tears. She had not cried since the day when she had confessed her guilt over Ron and Ginny's death's to him, and her feelings of uselessness. She knew that the bad things were going to continue, and for some reason, she was afraid, which was so unlike her. She had survived Lucius Malfoy's torture and dungeons, yet she was scared of theses goons.

But then it hit her. It had been different since her kidnapping. She had changed since then, and was more scared than ever that it would happen again. Somehow she knew that Severus would not take it well if there were a repeat of the kidnapping. She blinked and the tears forming in her eyes fell onto her black shirt.

'Hermione, my love?' he asked when he felt the shirt becoming damp. 'Are you alright?'

'I'm s-sorry, Severus,' she said through her soft sobbing noises. 'I just – I am scared that something terrible will happen. Just like you said, the squid is a message in itself.'

Severus put his book down and wrapped both arms around her tightly, rocking her little as she sat on his lap, snuggled into his embrace as she wept. He had once hated weeping females, but he found that with Hermione, he did not mind it so much. He wanted to soother her and tell her that he loved her; that everything was going to be alright. He wanted to make everything bad go away. When she settled, he summoned a pot of tea from the kitchens and poured her a cup, making it the way she liked it – one sugar and a dash of milk.

'Here, drink this love,' he said, offering her the drink. He had slipped a little calming draught in there also to see if it would help ease her nerves.

She accepted it and did as she as told, feeling the effects of it cloud her negative thoughts and soother her. She stopped sniffling and crying, and felt at peace for the first time that week. 'Thank you,' she murmured softly.

'It was my pleasure love,' he said, pressing a kiss to her cheek.

Hermione beamed at him and set her cup aside before cupping his face in her hands and pinning him with a hard, demanding kiss that left Severus breathless for a while after. When she pulled back, he had a lopsided grin on his sharp features, which helped to soften the angular plains of his rugged features.

'I love you, Severus Snape,' she declared with a grin, capturing his lips in a sweet kiss before he could respond. 'I owe you my life.'


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Twenty-Three

The castle was very quiet. It had been a week since first the disappearance and then the sudden death and return of the Giant Squid. In class, the Professor's had been instructed to inform the students that the squid had simply fallen ill, and had passed due to natural causes. Meanwhile, Hermione had been frantically researching and doing tests on samples from the squid to determine the cause of death. So far, all she had come up with was a list of the contents of the squids' stomach. During this time too, she had to cope with all of her homework and study, as well as the resumed duties as Head Girl.

She only ever saw Severus at night, and then too, they had not had time to be intimate as by the end of the day they were both too exhausted to do anything but bathe and fall into his bed to curl around each other and sleep. Hermione had to say that she missed being intimate with the love of her life. It was her Birthday In just three days, and she couldn't wait! She would finally be 19 – not that it really mattered as she was already over the age of consent by both Wizarding and Muggle standards.

Severus had already told her to prepare herself for an outing that day. In fact, It was a Saturday, and she was excited to be going away for the weekend with Severus somewhere that he would no disclose to her. Of course this made it impossible to concentrate in class, as she now had to think about the weekend, the Giant Squid and her infernal Potions project. It was actually getting all a bit much, and to add to it, she had never been so tense or sexually frustrated in her life.

At Lunch time in the Hall that day, she had been forced to sit at the Gryffindor table and cast glances at her love as he scowled out over the student populace. All she wanted to do was run up to him, push him down on the Head Table and shag him right then and there for all to see. She smirked, thinking of everyone's horrified faces if she were to do such a thing. They would likely be horrified even if she were to touch the untouchable Potions Master.

'Hermione, I was wondering if you could help me with some Potions homework tonight,' Neville asked from beside her.

'Oh I might be able to help you for an hour or so straight after dinner, but then I have to go down to the Dungeons to work on my Project,' Hermione replied, looking back down at her sandwich.

'Thanks Hermione – Harry wanted to ask for help to, but he and Luna decided to go for a walk at lunch instead,' the boy said by way of explanation.

Hermione waved it off casually and smiled at poor Neville. 'It's alright, Nev. I will help the both of you tonight, but I want you to write something up during your free period after lunch, both of you. Then tonight I will look through them and make suggestions where needed,' she said simply.

'Thanks Hermione, you're really the greatest,' Neville said with a shy smile.

Hermione nodded and decided to leave her sandwich and head up to the Restricted Section to find something for her Potions Project. She remembered something from the night before when she was reading in her room, and wanted to look up on it. Patting Neville on the shoulder, she left the table with her bag slung over her shoulder, and left the Great Hall. She arrived at the Library and nodded at Madam Pince and gestured to the back of the Library. The Librarian nodded back and smiled at the Head Girl, who immediately retreated.

She quoted the password softly and entered, closing the entrance behind her before heading into the book stacks. It was eerily quiet there as usual because not many students had permission to go into the Restricted Section, and none of the students had another means of gaining access. She perused the bookshelves and traced her finger along the spine of a book. Suddenly, there was a presence behind her, and she felt warm lips touch the back of her neck where it was exposed due to the braid her hair was plaited into that day.

'Severus,' she breathed, as arms wrapped around her.

She reached her arms up and looped them around his neck as he pressed against her back, his arousal evident against her bum. His lips fell to her throat and her kissed and suckled until there was guaranteed to be a love bite there. She moaned and arched back into him, urging him to touch her all over.

'Please… Sev…' she said breathlessly.

'Patience, my love,' he murmured low, his hand cupping her small breast through her school robes.

'Gods Severus – I need you!' she moaned, grabbing his other hand, and placing it on her thigh beneath her robes and urging him to hike up her skirt and pleasure her – make love to her.

'Saucy minx, propositioning your Professor amongst the bookshelves in the Library,' he growled, spinning her around and capturing her lips in a scorching kiss.

Hermione wrapped her arms around his neck, fisting a hand in his hair and tangling her tongue with his. She was like a starving woman, desperate for the sustenance that only he could give her. They kissed and he lifted her up, pressing her against the bookshelf as she wrapped her legs around his hips. His hand worked its way into her robes and under her skirt, shifting aside her knickers so that he could stroke her damp lower lips with deft fingers. She moaned into his mouth, and he had the presence of mind to cast a temporary silencing charm and ward on the entrance to the section.

'Severus…' she gasped. 'Please, come into me!'

He chucked and quickly freed himself from his trousers and sliding his long, throbbing organ into her core. He stifled his own groan against her neck, and sucked on her flawless skin hard to stop him from growling any louder as he began to thrust into her. She was so damn tight and wet. Hermione knew that there was no way that she was going to last very long this time – it had been so long, and this was just too erotic.

Severus, too, knew that he was not going to last long this time, and placed his thumb on her clit to rub at it and speed up her climax so that he could release. She came trembling and panting around him, causing him to let go and spill into her perfect little body. Spent, he slumped against her and the bookshelves while he recovered. When he was breathing a little more regularly, he looked up at her beloved face and saw her flushed cheeks, and red lips from his attentions. Smiling at her, he leaned in and kissed his love tenderly, reminding her that he loved her.

When they broke the kiss, Hermione realized that his softened shaft was still lodged within her, and she loosened her legs around him and they parted; Hermione pulling her knickers back into place and readjusting her robes, and Severus tucking himself back into place and buttoning up. They both cast charms to remove the evidence of their coupling, and when they were done, they both looked almost the same as they had when they had entered the Library.

'I love you,' Hermione whispered to him as they embraced and kissed again.

He smiled and kissed her forehead. 'I love you too, sweet,' he replied, hugging her as tightly as he could without crushing her.

'I will see you later tonight, although I have to tutor Harry and Neville for a bit after dinner before I come down,' she said kissing his lips one last time.

'I will look forward to it,' he replied as she left the Restricted Section with the book she had come for originally, heading to her next class.

Hermione found herself in Transfiguration with Harry next, and on entering the classroom, he seemed to be smirking at her. She sat beside him and looked at him curiously, wondering what could be so amusing to him. He tapped her neck with his wand, casting a couple of concealment charms on the love bites that were scattered over her neck. Luckily, they had been the first to arrive, otherwise who knew what everyone else would say about it.

'Oh bugger – thanks for that Harry,' Hermione said with a blush as she rubbed her neck where the love-bites had been.

'It's alright, 'Mione. We all forget things sometimes,' he replied with a small glint in his eyes. 'How was your lunch time?'

'Fabulous,' she said breathlessly with a faraway look.

'Glad to here it,' Harry said, pinching the end of her nose as the rest of the class stumbled in, followed by McGonagall shortly after.

The rest of the day seemed to pass in a daze for her, with her thoughts lingering on being with Severus that night. She was going to make love to him until they were both exhausted that night if she had any day in it. Honestly, her Potion could wait – she was a desperate woman, and their tryst in the Library had only been a tease. Harry had noticed that she did not seem totally with it, but decided to leave her alone. He knew that by the next day she would be back to normal. But it did make him curious as to how Snape managed to do it.

That night at Dinner, Hermione ate hungrily, and returned to help Harry and Neville with their assignments which they had gotten started in the afternoon while Hermione had gone to Arithmancy. They all got together in the Gryffindor Common room instead of Hermione's chambers and sat around the fireplace in comfy chairs.

'Alright, let's see how you've done, Neville,' she announced, picking up his 3 feet of essay for her own dear Potions Master.

After reading through it, she made a few corrections on the side in note form and inserted a few extra things into it, but otherwise it was not too bad for Neville – of course it was an essay on the properties and uses of Mandrakes in Potions, and Neville had always been good at things that involved Herbology. She went on to read Harry's, which was actually a little worse off than Neville's, but by the time she had gone through it and adjusted and suggested things, everything on there was good enough for Harry to pass with at least a good.

'Hermione, you really are a gem,' Harry said, planting a brotherly kiss on her cheek as he hugged the breath out of her.

'Yeah, thanks 'Mione,' Neville added.

They all packed up everything, and Neville went up to his room after giving Hermione a short hug. Harry stayed back so that he could have a word with her. He really thought that she should mention that she was seeing someone to Neville so that he could move on and find someone else to love. Neville was just caught up because Hermione was really the only girl her talked to.

'Mione, I really think you should say something to let Neville know that you're seeing someone, I mean, you don't need to tell him that you're with Severus, but say something in front of him about another guy,' Harry whispered.

'I wanted to, but I thought I would talk to Severus first and ask him if I can tell Neville about us,' she replied seriously.

'That sounds like a good idea.' Harry said with a smile. 'So are you going to go down there tonight?'

Hermione nodded and smiled back at him dreamily. 'Oh I think so. We have been really busy lately and I just want to catch up him a little,' she answered and hugged Harry again. 'I will see you and Neville in the morning I suppose – so you'd better finish your essay because it's due first lesson tomorrow.'

With that, they parted and Hermione returned to her rooms and took a shower before dressing in a cotton nightie and slippers with a bathrobe wrapped around her, knowing full well that by the end of the night all of these items would not be on her person. Smiling, she went to the fireplace and Flooed to Severus' chambers. As soon as she stepped out, he was on her with hot kisses all over her face, neck and finally her mouth, his tongue branding hers. They made it to the couch where she made him sit, and then carefully placed herself sideways on his lap.

'Sev – we need to have a talk, and I can't concentrate if we're doing anything,' she said breathlessly, stroking his cheek.

He smiled at her, pulling her closer and snuggling his face into her shoulder and kissing it gently before nodding against her. 'Go on love,' he said softly, hugging her tightly, but before she could begin he pressed his fingers to her lips to halt her. 'By the way, I am sorry about the Library at lunch. I just got carried away – I have missed you quite a bit my pet.'

Hermione grinned at the memory. 'I rather enjoyed that actually, so if anyone is a nymphomaniac, then it's me,' she replied with a small giggle as he grinned himself and kissed a ticklish path down to the valley between her breasts through her nightie. 'Come now, Severus – I still need to talk to you.'

He placed one last lingering kiss there and looked her in the face and nodded. 'Go on, love. If you can withstand me thus far then it must be important,' he said in a dark, teasing tone.

'Well, Harry and I were talking today, and I think I might need to tell Neville that I am – involved with someone…' she said, her voice trailing off as she looked at him imploringly. 'I really don't want to have to lie to Neville, because he is a good friend, but I don't want to lead him along. Sev – I want to…'

'You want to tell him about us?' Severus asked slowly.

'Yes, I do. He deserves to know the truth, and he is trustworthy enough not to tell anyone about it – no matter how hurt he might be by the news,' Hermione said, cupping his face in her graceful hands. 'I promise that I will be careful and that Neville won't say a thing. Please Severus…'

'Of course you can tell him love. I can't say that I know the boy all that well, but his parents were very good people who were trustworthy and kind,' Severus answered seriously with a gentle kiss.

Hermione smiled beautifully at him and hugged him so tight he didn't think he would be able to breathe. She kissed him hard and straddled him then, stripping off her bathrobe as she did this. Now Severus knew that he had her full attention and wrapped his arms around her and stood with her in his arms so that he could carry her to his bedroom that he hoped would be theirs one day. They made love twice before falling asleep sated and spent, the silky sheets and blankets covering their bodies.

Hermione fell asleep straight afterwards, but Severus wasn't quite ready to sleep. He stared at her and stroked her hair lovingly. She was perfect to him, and he was going to prove it to her one day soon. With that final thought, he fell asleep curled around the woman he loved.

A/N – Oh my goodness it has been so long since I have updated and I am so ashamed of myself for neglecting. As I have mentioned before I was preoccupied, but now everything is as it should be. I hope to update again soon, although this story is not finished just yet. Check out my blog which is under my homepage for updates on these stories and how everything is coming along! Until next time, please read and review! Brandy


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter Twenty-Four

Chapter Twenty-Four

Gryffindor Tower was filled with loud chatter that morning, as the students all prepared to head to Hogsmeade for the day. Hermione had headed in there from her own chambers earlier, and had gone up to the boys dormitories, and sat on Harry's bed to wait for him and Neville to get ready in the bathroom. It was going to be a very long day indeed for Hermione, as she had planned to tell Neville all about Severus. She truly loved Neville – he was a dear boy, but she just could not be _in_ love with him the way that she was madly in love with Severus.

'Mione, do you mind if we stop in at the Quidditch supply shop for a few minutes today while we're in town?' Harry asked as he stumbled back into the room, dressed in jeans and a sweater that Molly Weasley had knitted for him; all the while, toweling off his wet raven hair.

'Not at all; provided you are willing to brave the bookshop with me,' she replied with a cheeky grin.

'And here I thought old Snarky-Pants wasn't having an effect on you,' Harry muttered under his breath.

'What's this all about?' Neville asked as he came into the room, fully dressed and clutching his toiletries to him like a security blanket. And then he saw Hermione perched on Harry's bed and almost dropped his things on the floor. 'Oh, Hermione. What on earth are you doing up here?'

Hermione laughed softly and shook her head. 'Don't look so worried Neville. I don't bite,' she replied, patting his arm as he walked by.

Ten minutes later, the three of them were descending the stairs to the Entrance Hall, where Hermione spotted Severus standing out of the way to the side of the group. She flashed him a brilliant smile, which he returned in a more subdued fashion and nodded back to her. She really wanted to spend the day with him, curled up in front of the fireplace in his rooms, and just read. But alas, she had things that needed to be done, and outside the castle was safer than inside.

As Filch began marking off the names on the Hogsmeade roster, Hermione looked over at Severus once more; mouthed 'I love you' to him; and then moved on with her classmates as he headed back to the Dungeons. He had simply come to see her off. Professor Vector and Hagrid were accompanying the students that day, along with McGonagall, simply because she was the Deputy of the school.

'Come on, Hermione,' Harry called from a little further along the line of people trying to exit the Hall via Filch.

She shook herself out of her daze and hurried after Neville and Harry, who were already in front of Filch, next in line to leave. Once their names were marked off on the roster, they walked into the crisp air, and down the hill towards the front gates of the school, where a small statue of the giant squid had been erected in honor and remembrance. It was so realistic it made Hermione shudder a little.

They walked into Hogsmeade village half an hour later and headed straight to Honeyduke's sweet shop for their morning hit of sugar to last them through the day. Harry headed the way to the Quidditch shop with his chest puffed forward dramatically, and an arm stretched out so that he looked like a soldier marching in Hitler's army, and strutted his way there. Hermione laughed as she followed, and Neville was looking around at everyone who was watching them self-consciously, before she turned back and dragged him along with her.

'Come along, Neville,' she said a little impatiently.

After going through the entire shop, Harry finally found the perfect pair of Quidditch gloves, and they were finally free to move on to the bookshop. Hermione smilingly took the lead there, and smirked as Harry and Neville groaned and muttered about how they would be there for hours at the rate she was going. She entered ahead of them, and instantly went to the section on Potions to see if there was anything there that Severus did not already have on his shelves.

'Hermione you really should slow down a little – we could barely keep up,' Harry puffed as him and Neville stumbled into her isle in the bookshop.

'Honestly Harry, a promise is a promise,' she huffed, pulling a book from the shelf.

'Indeed,' agreed a dark voice from further down the row.

Hermione dropped her book in shock, and gazed down the row to see a dark cloaked figure, who was most obscured by shadow. She took a step closer to Harry and reached into her robes to find her wand, even though she hardly even needed it these days.

'Who are you and what do you want?' she demanded in a voice that only trembled slightly.

'It matters not who I am. The only thing that matters is that we have come to complete a promise that we made to the traitor and his foolish master Mudblood,' the man replied, moving forwards into the light to expose his Death Eater attire to them.

'_Oh Shit,'_ Hermione though desperately. 'Even if you did take me monster, what on earth do you think it will accomplish? Your master is gone, and your power over the Wizarding world disappeared along with him,' she sneered.

'You have quite a mouth on you, I must say, Mudblood,' the man said smoothly. 'I really do think Bellatrix was right when she told us how totally filthy you are.'

'Lestrange? What does she have to do with this? She's dead; I killed her myself,' Neville piped nervously from behind Harry and Hermione.

'Ah I see – the Longbottom boy. You really should learn to keep your mouth shut blood traitor,' the man sneered. 'Indeed you may have slain Bella, however, you will find that the superior warriors for the dark would not fall as easily as she did.'

'Bastard,' Hermione spat. 'Whatever it is that you planned, it will not work. Lucius Malfoy is in prison, and you will follow him there shortly.'

'I think not, Mudblood. From what I hear, you are quite the little captive. Lucius did warn us that you are a feisty thing,' the man said, swooping in on her quickly and capturing one of her wrists in his hand. 'I hear that you begged him to rough you up a little bit more every time he came to you,' he said as the bottom half of his mask disappeared, exposing his mouth to her view.

Harry pressed his wand to the man's throat instantly. 'Release her now scum,' he said in a dark voice.

The Death Eater chuckled, and with a wave of his free hand, Harry and Neville were both bound up on the ground, looking up at Hermione helplessly. 'Foolish boy, did you think you could stop me?' he said laughingly, before turned back to look at Hermione. 'Now Mudblood, are you going to come along quietly? Or am I going to have to beat you into submission?'

Hermione spat on his mask, staring back at him defiantly while trying to wrench her wrist free of his grasp. 'Never in a million years will I go anywhere with the likes of you,' she said coldly.

He pulled her closer, his grip unrelenting, and then he forced his lips on hers, kissing her mouth in a most brutal fashion. Hermione struggled against him as he tried to force his tongue into her mouth, but eventually she settled for biting his bottom lips as hard as she could. He let go of her wrist with a groan of pain, and stumbled back a few steps, his hand to his wounded mouth.

'Filthy bitch,' he snarled, bringing the back of his hand across her face in a hard slap that sent her reeling backwards into the bookshelf, clutching her burning cheek. It would most likely bruise.

Hermione felt the tears burning in her eyes, but she blinked them back, determined not to cry in front of him one bit. She stood back up straight with her shoulders back, and without even reaching for her wand, she snapped her fingers in the direction of Harry and Neville and wandlessly released them from their bonds. The two scrambled to their feet with their wands drawn immediately, resting them on the Death Eater before them, whose lip was bleeding horribly down his chin thanks to Hermione.

'I know that you didn't come alone,' Hermione said, summoning her fallen wand to her wordlessly. 'So why don't you tell your friends to come out and join us?'

He laughed then, a cruel glint in his eyes. 'Why don't we take this outside? I am sure you would not want to spoil these books now, would you?' he suggested.

Hermione pointed her wand at him, and glared straight into his dark eyes that were cloaked in shadow. 'Why on earth would you think that we could not put you out of your misery right here and now without even having to bother with all of you ridiculous Death Eater pals?' she said sweetly.

'Because, the second you walk out of this shop from any of the directions, they will all be on you before you can even blink,' he replied. 'So you either come out with me unharmed. Or you go out alone, and you won't even have a chance to fight back.'

Hermione beckoned Harry to her without her eyes once leaving the Death Eater, and he went to her immediately. 'What do you think?' she whispered in a low voice.

'I think we should bind his hands and let him lead us out first,' Harry replied quietly. 'With him on an invisible rope, they will have no choice but to hesitate.'

'Fine,' she said, swishing her wand using a complicated knot movement at him.

'Clever little Mudblood – it appears that the traitor taught you a few of his dark little tricks,' the man taunted.

Hermione didn't smile at that, however, she did turn her back on him and start to lead the way out of the shop. The shop owner was gaping like a fish when they passed the register, and they had almost reached the door when it opened with a jingle of the bell, and Luna Lovegood came in. Harry reached forward and grasped her wrist, tugging her to him and moving her to stand next to the shop owner.

'Luna, what are you doing here?' Harry asked in slightly hushed tones. 'I thought you were staying at the castle and studying.'

'Well I decided to take a break, and I came down with a couple of the other girls,' she replied with a sheepish look. Some third years told me you were in here…' she added, and then she saw the Death Eater, and the light disappeared from her eyes. 'But I can see that this is a bad time.'

Harry sighed. 'Luna, we need to go outside for a bit, but I need you to promise me that you will stay inside,' he said seriously.

'Are you going to be in a fight?' she asked, with a frown.

'Most probably, and I don't want you to get involved,' he replied, moving her to stand over the other side right next to the shop owner who nodded when Harry looked his way. 'Stay right here.'

'But Harry-'

'Don't argue Luna – just stay here,' he said firmly, before nudging the Death Eater hard in the back to get him moving in front of the group.

The door opened, and the man walked out, although, it didn't take all that much to force him out in front of them. As promised, a dozen or so other Death Eaters in robes and masks Apparated into the streets, and soon there were shrieks of fear in the air as people scrambled in all directions to get away from the cloaked figures. Hermione stood beside their captive and waved a hand over him, bind his entire body with the spell that Severus had taught her only a couple of months ago.

'Bring it on,' Hermione shouted at them, pointing her wand at the nearest Death Eater to her.

'Filthy Mudblood, you will pay,' a female voice screeched, before said woman lunged towards Hermione and was caught by a silent hex Hermione cast sending her flying backwards into another Death Eater.

Fighting ensued around them, with hexes flying from all different directions, and Harry was right by Hermione's side, along with Neville, countering them and sending spells back just as fast.

Harry spotted Colin Creevy with his camera out behind a rubbish bin nearby, and worked his way towards him quickly, dodging a spell along the way. 'Colin, I need you to go back to the castle and get Professor Snape and Dumbledore,' he said quickly. 'Just floo from the Three Broomsticks – Madam Rosmerta will let you through –go!'

Collin nodded and ran off in the other direction as Harry went back in and stunned a Death Eater with his back turned on him. Binding him, Harry made his way back to Hermione, and saw that Luna had indeed not listened to him, and was helping Neville out with a group of three that had ganged up on him. Confident that Hermione knew what she was doing, he went to help Neville and Luna fight it out.

Hermione finished up binding a rather large Death Eater quickly, when she felt her hair being pulled, and was soon on the ground looking up at the female Death Eater she had thrown backwards at the start. Glaring upwards, she waved her hand easily, and sent the woman flying back once more as she scrambled back to her feet hastily. Picking up her wand, she steeled her position as the female Death Eater recovered her footing.

'Poor little Mudblood,' she taunted in mock sweetness. 'How ever you managed to better our leader I do not know. However… you shall find no such weakness here.'

She pointed her wand directly at Hermione, as four other Death Eaters surrounding her stopped fighting others, and pointed their wands at her also. Before she knew what was happening, her world went black, with the last thing she heard being Harry shouting 'No!' rather loudly.

Harry ran across the space between them, hexing and stunning the Death Eaters as he went, until he came to where Hermione was and lifted her head onto his lap. She was unconscious, and after trying a re-awakening charm, she still did not budge. He saw the leader of the Death Eaters stand from where Hermione had left him, and he gave a mock bow, before all of the Death Eaters, both stunned and standing, disappeared. His eyes were fuzzy as he looked around and saw Neville and Luna rushing to him, and then he saw Snape and Dumbledore running towards them.

'Hermione – oh gods what happened?' Severus demanded as he dropped to his knees and lifted Hermione from his limp grasp.

Harry just shook his head. 'They're back…' he said softly.

A/N - Hello there! I am again terribly sorry for the length of time it took me to update, but with me studying I have so little time. My muse disappearing on me was also a problem, but now it has returned and it seems to be full of ideas. Let me know what you think of this update! Brandy.


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter Twenty-Five

Gentle light filtered through the curtains in the hospital wing, casting a golden glow over the resting figure in the bed nearest it. Spring was most certainly on its way. Severus Snape looked out the window, before glancing back at the bed on which Hermione was laid down. They had gotten there just in time to save her. He had no notion as to why the worst things just continued to happen to her. She was the kindest, smartest, and most beautiful and lovely witch around, and yet their creator, whom ever he or she might be, continued to bombard her with obstacles.

Severus had considered that it was merely punishment for his wrong-doings in his youth, and that Hermione was bearing the brunt for his mistakes. But Albus nipped that thought in the bud quickly, and even Potter was quick to berate him for thinking that way. He had been a little put off by that, before it was pointed out that Hermione would have been saying the same things if she were awake.

It was not as though Hermione was actually in a coma at all. She was just sleeping deeply as her body was recovering from the physical abuse on it. All she would have to do was wake up and she should be almost back to normal. Severus, however, believed that the progress that they had made over the Christmas break would be for naught, now that her body had been tortured once more. The therapy would have to begin again, and she would need to take large doses of the Potion they had developed together.

'Severus?' asked a familiar female voice from behind.

'How can I help you, Minerva?' he asked in a quiet voice, weary from lack of sleep.

'How about I sit by Hermione for a while, and you go down to your chambers and clean up? Perhaps you could have a couple of hours sleep?' she suggested gently, looking at her friend with worry creasing her forehead.

'I'm fine, Minerva,' he said in a firmer tone, although still weary.

Minerva approached him and put a hand on his shoulder, coaxing him to look at her properly. She rested her other hand on his cheek and look at him tenderly. 'You aren't doing Hermione or yourself any favors by avoiding things, Severus. Go have some rest, eat a decent meal,' she said firmly. 'When Hermione wakes, you will be better able to care for her if you are well rested and have energy.'

He sighed heavily, closing his eyes and nodding against her palm. 'I will go for a few hours, but I will return this afternoon after classes,' he replied.

Minerva nodded and watched him leave the infirmary, shoulders slightly slumped. You wouldn't even notice it unless you knew the man well. He was exhausted and feeling useless and downtrodden. She knew exactly what was wrong with him. He was becoming depressed over the amount of trouble that Hermione seemed to have to into. He blames himself, and believed that her problems were his fault – that their association was making it worse.

How wrong he was.

Minerva had always known that Hermione was a rather prominent figure in the Wizarding world – ever since she had started at Hogwarts and proved to be the best in everything that she did. Not to mention her friendship with Harry and the part that she played as a member of the famous Gryffindor Trio. Her whole life in the Wizarding world had been one problem after another, and it was in no way Severus Snape's fault for any of them.

She was only glad that Albus had hired another Professor to take over Severus' classes until he was able to take over again fully. His priority was Hermione; they had all three of them agreed.

Sighing, she took a seat beside Hermione's bed and picked up a book, holding one of Hermione's cold hands, while reading to her from the book. The last thing anyone wanted was for Hermione to complain about being behind the second she sat up from her slumber. After a while, Minerva moved to stand by the window, while Poppy rushed in and dosed the young witch up with necessary Potions, and to perform charms on her body to prevent muscle atrophy.

'Poppy, how much longer, do you think?' she asked the matron softly.

Poppy looked over at the Deputy Headmistress with a sad expression. 'I couldn't tell you Minerva,' she answered honestly. 'No one ever can with these things.'

'For Severus' sake, I hope she comes back to us soon,' Minerva said, leaning her back against the cool glass of the window.

'As do I, Minerva, as do I,' the nurse said, before leaving them alone once more.

After lunch, Albus came into the Infirmary and took over the job of watching over Hermione from Minerva, who had an afternoon class to teach. He looked over the young witch sadly. He had gone into Severus' chambers an hour earlier and ensured that a sleeping Potion had found its way into Severus' drink so that his Potions Master would get a decent sleep. Otherwise, doubtless, the younger wizard would have returned straight after lunch had ended.

As soon as classes were over, Harry came into the hospital wing and went into the enclosure where Hermione was. Albus gave him a small smile of encouragement as Harry took the seat beside her bed and held onto one of her hands, taking his turn to stand vigil over his best friend. Neville entered not long after, and looked at the young witch fondly. However, he did not stay for long. Severus swept into the infirmary at exactly for o'clock, which made the young, nervous man retreat with a look of dejection on his features as plain as day to Dumbledore.

'No changes then?' Severus asked calmly.

'Her hands are beginning to warm up,' Harry replied. 'Yesterday when I came, he hands were as cold as ice – but today she seems to be warmer in general.'

Severus nodded at the boy, once his enemy, and now someone that he held a grudging respect for, despite his parentage. Albus chose to leave at that moment, having said nothing at all since entering the wing, and not needing to say anything as he left. He knew that the two dark-haired wizards would be polite to each other. They did it for Hermione, and for themselves. The final battle, despite being not as final as it had appeared, had forged many bonds.

'You must love Hermione a lot,' Harry said quietly, almost too quietly for Severus to hear at all. 'For you to take time from teaching… well it's not really like you.'

'I do love Hermione, a great deal, Harry,' Severus replied, still stumbling over his words a little as he spoke Harry's given name.

'I would have thought you would have proposed to her already,' Harry said with a sheepish smile.

'I had planned on it. However, with all that has been going on since that bloody squid was killed, I have not had the opportune moment to do so,' he answered honestly. 'Her birthday had been my first choice, but that passed too, before I could work up the nerve. I feel like I would be holding her back.'

'But you would never hold Hermione back, Professor. We all know that you would do whatever you could to make sure she had everything she ever wanted – the best out of life,' Harry said with confidence.

'You place a lot of faith in that, Potter,' Severus said with a smirk.

'Professor Dumbledore thinks that you are the best of men,' Harry said with a shrug. 'If anyone could tell what kind of man you are, it would be him.'

'Albus always did have an uncanny knack for reading people entirely too well,' he drawled, although there was affection behind his sarcasm. He felt surreal – standing in the infirmary near the woman he loved, while having a very civil and almost friendly conversation with a Potter.

'Neville is scared shitless by you, you know?' Harry commented with a chuckle.

'Oh, so that was what was wrong with the boy. What on earth has made him think like that, I wonder,' Severus said with an evil grin.

'Oh you know perfectly well that you love how scared he is of you. The poor guy has been in love with Hermione for years and then the one chance he sees, you come along and she is no longer there,' Harry said good-naturedly. 'I am glad that Hermione has you, Professor. Neville is a great guy, but he isn't strong enough. Hermione needs someone as strong and smart as you.'

'I am hardly what her parents would choose for her,' he said dryly.

'Hermione's parents would choose for Hermione to be happy. You make her happy,' the younger wizard said emphatically. 'I can see it in her eyes. Every time she sees you, I am blinded by the love that she radiates. She always smiles when someone mentions you. It was like when Ginny and I…'

Severus nodded, and spared the younger man from having to continue talking about his former lover. He could see how much the boy was still hurt about her death. Ginny Weasley had been an unfortunate and grave loss indeed. He was somewhat glad that Potter had been able to find another to not so much replace her, but to love alongside the memory of her. Luna Lovegood was also a nice girl who was non-disruptive, and although she was quirky, she was rather intelligent.

'Ginny Weasley was very much like your mother, Lily,' Severus said after a long moment of silence. 'Not just in appearance, but she was strong and warm like Lily had been to everyone.'

'Were you friends with my mother?' Harry asked, not able to mask his surprise. 'Did you know her very well?'

'I knew her well enough. No more so than any of the other unknowns throughout the school in our year. We were friendly with each other until that incident in our fifth year that you witnessed in my penseive, nosey brat that you were,' Severus replied with only a moderate amount of sarcasm towards the end of his statement.

'Sorry about that,' Harry said meekly.

'It is in the past now. I did say an awful thing to your mother,' he admitted. 'My only defense is that I was rather put out at being embarrassed in front of a large crowd of students by the Marauder's once again, and most males generally do not like to be defended by females – especially at that tender age.'

'Looking back on it, my father and Sirius were being prats,' Harry agreed. 'You had every right to be upset.'

'Your mother and I did apologise and forgive each other eventually, but by then, it was far too late to repair our tentative friendship. She had started dating your father, so any hope of recovering was soon squashed,' Severus said with a heavy sigh. 'I often regret that was a thing I was unable to do.'

Harry nodded, and looked at his watch, realizing that it was just gone five o'clock. 'I should go up and get ready for dinner,' he said, standing up. 'Maybe I'll check on how Neville is fairing. He looked sad when he left.'

'That sounds like an admirable plan. I am sure Hermione will appreciate your help in comforting the boy when she can't,' Severus replied quietly.

'Thank you for sharing everything with me that you have, Professor,' Harry said, holding out a hand to the older wizard.

Severus accepted his hand and shook it firmly. Harry Potter had really grown up in the past few months, and he could respect his young man as opposed to the boy. 'Have a good evening Mr. Potter. Do ensure you spend some time with Miss Lovegood. I am sure Hermione would have told you the same if she could,' he said.

Harry nodded and left the infirmary quietly, passing Poppy on the way out. She ten bustled into the enclosure and waved Severus out of the way as she administered the night Potions and once again performed the necessary charms on Hermione's body. Once she was finished, she looked at the Potions Master and smiled at him fondly, touching his arm.

'That was a very decent thing you did just now, Severus,' she said softly.

'How could I do anything less?' he asked as he sat down in the chair beside Hermione's bed. He owed it to the fond memories of Lily, and to Hermione to be honest with the young man who had just left. If he could not make amends with Lily, then being at least a little civil and polite with her son would have to be enough.

Poppy patted his shoulder and left the pair alone for the first time since the morning when Minerva had barged in and sent him away. He would have to make sure he had a few words with Albus, however. He couldn't believe that the old goat had managed to dose his with a sleeping Potion earlier that day. Although, he hated to admit it, but he did feel somewhat better having had some rest and something to eat. He wanted to be able to help Hermione to the best of his ability as soon as she woke.

He would have her on her feet after a week.

With a heavy sigh, he took Hermione's hand, and noted that it was, indeed, warmer than it had been the day before. Not long and she would be awake, and able to reply to him when he asked her questions, and argue with him over ridiculously trivial things, or kiss him back when he kissed her. He had no idea that he could feel about someone as strongly as he felt for Hermione.

'Love, it has been a very long day,' he said to her, taking in the smoothness of the skin on her face. She was still beautiful, even though she was pale. 'I slept today, you'll be glad to hear. Albus had to dose me – but I'll get him back for that. Your friends stopped by too. I think that I will be able to get along with Potter better than I had anticipated.'

Severus stopped there and took a deep breath. 'You mean everything to me, Hermione,' he said, releasing the breath. 'So whenever you are ready, please wake up so that I don't have to worry any more/'

He closed his eyes and rested his head next to her hand on the bed then, drifting into a light sleep beside the woman he loved. From the other side of the curtain, three figures stood and smiled at each other, so glad that Severus Snape had finally found the one that he would gladly die for, but at the same time, the one he could live his life for.

With this knowledge, they were momentarily at peace.

A/N - Please review!Writer's love feedback! Sorry it took so long, but this story is one that is going to be very hard to finish - but worry not. It will be finished eventually!


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter Twenty-Six

'_Hermione…'_

'_Yes, I know your name Hermione,' a male voice taunted._

'_I can even see you right now. You look so lovely when you are unconscious little Mudblood. I think we should make sure you look that way a little more often. How does that sound to you?' _

_Hermione looked around, trying to navigate the source of the voice in the darkness, but she was unable to find anything. Stumbling, she fell to her knees over something and found that she was unable to stand up again. Hands on her shoulders held her in place firmly, even as she struggled with all her might. She tried to twist her head around to look at her captors, but she couldn't see anything but darkness. She was overwhelmed by the fact that she could not see anything. Then a red light cast over her body, and she could see a figure emerging, dressed in heavy black robes with a hood hiding the face of her tormentor. _

'_What do you want with me?' she asked in a raged voice. _

'_Well, my little Mudblood – I want you, to get to your darling Severus,' he replied. 'We know that you are the traitor's little whore and we want him to come for you.' _

'_Severus is not stupid – he won't be fooled,' Hermione spat. _

'_Oh but that is what we are counting on. He knows that we are using you as bait, and he knows that if he doesn't come for you, death will shortly follow,' he said in a flawlessly smooth voice. 'What he is not anticipating is that we shall be killing you the moment he comes into the house.' _

'_Why are you doing this? Hasn't everyone suffered enough?' she asked, feeling tears leaking from her eyes. _

'_Nobody has suffered nearly enough yet,' he hissed, moving right up to her. 'Oh what's this I hear? Severus has arrived? How wonderful.' _

_Hermione watching as one of his hands went into his robes and came back out wielding a sharp ornate-looking dagger. She watched as if in slow motion as he held it to her throat and pressed a little in warning for what was to come. She closed her eyes as he pressed a little harder and gritted her teeth together, until she heard a door bang open. Her eyes flew open just in time to see the silhouette of a figure in a yellow lit doorway, just as the knife sliced across her throat and she let out a gurgled scream._

…………………………………

Hermione sat up abruptly, a small sound of pain escaping her throat as she did so, heart beating so fast that it hurt, and sweat making her hair stick to her face in places. She looked around with wide eyes, panting and trying to make her eyes adjust to the room that she was in. Eventually, she came to the conclusion that she was in the hospital wing, and it was night time, if the darkness of the room or the moonlight shining in through the window was any indicator. She was grateful for the night, as any brighter light would have been too harsh on her eyes.

That had been ones of the worst dreams of her life.

Closing her eyes, she tried to shake her head to rid herself of the thoughts, but no matter what, she knew it would remain fresh in her mind. It had all seemed so real. Perhaps it had been and she had somehow miraculously survived. She let her eyes dart around the room, until she heard a soft snore. She turned sharply in the direction from which it came and looked over to see Severus asleep in an armchair with a high back that was right beside her bed. His brow was furrowed as if he was thinking of something bad, and his hands were clasped loosely over his chest.

She noted that he was only wearing his black trousers and his white linen shirt, which was unbuttoned at the top, and was slightly wrinkled because he was sleeping in it. She thought that despite the frown, he looked endearing. She shifted about so that she could try and stand up, but found that her legs were weak. It was almost as though she had never recovered from the last time she was hurt. She sighed in exasperation, and then suddenly touched her throat, as though she were feeling for evidence that it had all been a dream.

She felt nothing there.

Thankful, she shifted her weight so that she could brace one arm on the furthest edge of the bed that she could, and she reached out with the other arm to touch Severus on the knee, hoping it would be enough to wake him. She looked up at his face to see if he was reacting, and she saw that his eyes were wide open, not at all drowsy. He stood slowly then, and helped her back to lie against the pillows, sitting on the bed beside her and then crushing her in a hug wordlessly.

'Oh gods,' he choked out emotionally.

'Shhh… Severus I'm okay,' she said a little croakily, wrapping her arms around his neck and stroking his hair gently as his nose nuzzled her neck.

'Hermione I was so, so worried,' he murmured softly against her neck. 'I am sorry that I wasn't there to protect you…'

'Don't be sorry. None of us could have predicted that something like that would happen,' she croaked out, pulling back to flop against the pillows as Severus leaned down into her and continued to cling.

He had never been tempted to cry for a very long time, but now, he felt that all he seemed to want to do is cry. Severus planted kisses on her throat, trailing them across her jaw, before finally landing on her own lips for a soft kiss. He pulled back almost immediately, unwilling to start anything with her in case it worsened her physical state. As much as he wanted to kiss her until he was breathless, he restrained himself. Someone would have to, because he knew Hermione wouldn't be keen about forgoing any intimacy with him for very long.

'We're going to have to start you on the physical therapy again,' he said with a heavy sigh. 'It appears that you have had a relapse, however, I don't believe that it will take nearly as long as last time. Especially now with the improved Potions formula that we created.'

Hermione nodded, realizing that she should have expected it. Her legs felt as weak as they had ever been. Although she didn't mind that she would most likely end up in Severus' chambers for the duration again. This time, however, she was going to ensure that they would be sleeping in the same bed. Last time they had not yet embraced their feelings for each other.

'We sleep in the same bed this time,' she said softly.

He smiled a little at that, stroking her cheek gently. 'Of course you will, my love,' he said. 'I wouldn't have it any other way.'

Hermione smiled at him, coaxing him to join her on the bed, and shifting over so that she could lie in his arms. He obliged, only because of his relief at seeing her awake, and was soon lying against her with his arms wrapped around her. Hermione closed her eyes, but found that she was unable to sleep, instead listening to the sound of Severus' deep, even breathing as he fell back to sleep. Opening her eyes, she wriggled until she was on her back and propped up slightly on the pillows, maintaining the connection with Severus without waking him.

He looked peaceful now as he slept. Now that he knew that she had woken up. He really was the best thing the she could have ever asked for. Sighing, she stroked his hair absently with one hand, as she gazed out the window of the infirmary. She watched as the night started to fade into the light of the morning, and didn't shift again until the suns rays were shining into the room brightly. By then, her eyes had been gradually adjusted to the light, and she had no problem seeing.

A few minutes later, she heard footsteps approaching from the other side of the curtain closing off her bed from the rest of the wing. Soon, the curtain parted to reveal Poppy Pomfrey to her view. She smiled at the matron, who was looking at her in shock for a moment, before she found herself again, and smiled back at Hermione brightly. She was about to speak, when she finally noticed the Potions Master tucked in against Hermione beneath the covers, with his arms wrapped firmly around her, and head pillowed partly on her stomach and partly on the pillows.

Poppy nodded and walked in quietly, handing Hermione a glass of water, and also bringing along all of the Potions for her to take. 'There now, you will be better in no time,' she whispered.

'Thank you for taking care of me,' Hermione whispered back.

After taking the Potions and drinking the water, Poppy went off to the fireplace in her office in order to Floo Albus and Minerva. She tossed in some powder, and stuck her head in, calling for the Headmaster's office. 'Albus are you in there?' she asked excitedly.

'Yes, my dear, I was just going to call in on you,' Albus replied with a small, knowing smile on his lips. 'I take it Hermione has awoken then?'

'How you manage to know these things, I will never understand,' Poppy said with a sigh, removing herself from the fireplace, and standing back to allow Albus to come into the office also. 'Severus fell asleep curled around the dear girl.'

Albus twinkled at that. 'I shall go see her now. Please alert Minerva to the recent developments and ask her here,' he said, walking out of the office and towards the curtained enclosure.

He cleared his throat softly on reaching it. 'May I come through?' he asked in a polite tone of voice.

'Yes, come in Headmaster,' was Hermione's reply.

He parted the curtain and walked through, coming in on the sight that Poppy had describes, which made the twinkle in his eyes even more obvious than it had been before. Hermione saw the twinkle, and would have laughed if she were not so weak of voice. She looked forward to regaining full control of herself again. He sat in the armchair that Severus must have transfigured, and regarded her over his half-moon spectacles with a happy expression.

'I am delighted that you have rejoined us, Miss Granger,' he said cheerfully.

'I am happy to hear you say that,' she replied with a small, grateful smile. 'Thank you for everything you have done. Especially for keeping Severus sane while I was asleep.'

Albus nodded. 'He seemed to be taking everything rather well considering. He had a few bouts of depression, but he managed to pull through when he thought of you,' the old wizard replied.

'How long have I been asleep for?' she asked.

'A little over a week,' he answered. 'Nothing out of the ordinary, I assure you. Your body was trying to recover from a very painful wound. Do you still ache?'

'Not really. It's mostly just that my legs have become weakened again, which I am sure was their intention,' Hermione replied honestly.

Albus looked solemn as she said that, realizing that she was more right than she could have ever been. They were trying to cripple her and slowly kill her. They knew what it was doing to Severus. These Death Eaters were smarter than anyone gave them credit for, and they knew just how to wear down their victims without even touching a hair on their head. Using Hermione this way served their purposes two-fold; they were torturing Severus' already fragile psyche, and they were slowly killing the only thing that stood between them and their revenge on the Potions Master.

'I am afraid, my dear, that you are merely their means to an end,' Albus agreed, looking at the dark-haired man beside Hermione. 'He is more sensitive than anyone would ever know.'

'You are right and wrong, Headmaster,' Hermione said, shaking her head slightly. 'He is gentle and sensitive, yes. But he is the strongest man I have ever known aside from you. These Death Eaters – they are nothing in comparison.'

Albus chuckled and nodded at how perceptive the young woman was. They sat in silence in the room, and after half an hour, Severus began to stir. Hermione touched his cheek gently, swiping her thumbs over his closed eyes gently, before he finally opened them and looked up at her with an obsidian gaze. He smiled a little at her, and she smiled back, before pointing over at the Headmaster in the armchair. Severus sat up then, running a hand through his hair to push it out of his face, and looking at his employer.

'Good morning, Albus,' he greeted, before looking back at Hermione. 'Why did you not wake me earlier?'

'You looked like you needed the sleep,' she said with a sheepish grin. 'Besides, you're awfully handsome when you are asleep,' she teased.

He frowned petulantly at that, and his scowl only deepened when he heard Albus chuckling, and then two female voices join in laughing. Severus was about to get up to leave, but Hermione forestalled him with a gentle hand on his arm, and an imploring expression on her face.

'Don't be silly, Severus,' Hermione admonished lightly. 'We're not laughing at you, silly man.'

'Seemed like it,' he grumbled under his breath.

Hermione ignored his parting comment in favor of looking up at Minerva and Poppy, who had both just arrived and smiling in greeting. 'Hello Professor, it is nice to see you again,' she said sweetly.

'You have no idea how nice it is to see you awake again, Hermione dear,' Minerva replied, walking in over the side where Severus was not, and hugging the girl tightly. 'I was so worried.'

'I think I have heard that one before,' she said with a grin.

Minerva smiled at the girl, relieved that she was awake. She left her side then, and joined Albus and Poppy in a conversation as they left the enclosure, leaving the two lovers alone for a while again. Hermione looked at Severus for a long moment, before threading a hand in his hair and pulling him close for their first real kiss in over a week.

Hermione could almost taste Severus' relief.

A/N - Please leave me a review! I really appreciate the feedback!


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter Twenty-Seven

The room was eerily quiet save for the scratch of quill against parchment or the turn of a page in a book. Hermione had been very quiet as she was busy catching up on everything she thought she had missed while she had been sleeping for that week. Since her waking up three days earlier, she had been moved to the Dungeons so that she could once more stay with Severus and he could give her the Potions that she needed, and so that he could help her with her physical therapy to repair that damage that had been redone. She had been so frustrated by it the first couple of days, but after a while, she had cooled down and accepted it.

Severus had been a saint to her the entire time, however, encouraging her and trying to make her feel good about herself, instead of falling back into a depression over her lack of movement.

Hermione sighed heavily, and stretched her arms out over her head, arching her back to stretch out her back muscles too. As she stretched, the door to the room swung open, and Severus entered, looking a little weary. He smiled when he saw her stretching. He remembered her doing that so many times over the past few months that it was as familiar to him as his own stretch.

'Beautiful,' he murmured, shaking off his robes and hanging them by the door, before he swept over to her and pulled her body up just enough for him to kiss her.

He released her soon after and settled himself beside her on the lounge, wrapping his arm around her shoulders and resting his chin atop her head gently. 'Been busy today then, love?' he asked softly, rubbing his free hand over his eyes.

Hermione nodded. 'Just catching up,' she replied, pushing her books off the lounge and detangling herself from Severus, nudging him to lay back, before laying down with him and snuggling close. He looked so tired. 'You look so tired Sev. Did you have a hard day today?'

'Not really – same as usual,' he answered, closing his eyes and yawning, before pressing his lips to her temple. 'I think I could use a nap before dinner. Want to join me?'

Hermione nodded, and he sat up, climbing off the lounge and holding out a hand to her, before scooping her up into his arms to carry her. She smiled that he could even carry her around as if she weighed nothing when he was half asleep as he seemed to be at that moment. He gently placed her on _her_ side of the bed towards the centre, opting to hoist himself over the top of her, and landed right beside her on his side of the giant bed. Pausing to pull the covers over them, he hugged close to her and dozed off. Hermione had the presence of mind to cast an alarm charm to wake them when they needed to go shower for him to attend dinner.

Two hours later, the alarm went off in Hermione's head, and she woke up, pulling herself into a sitting position and starting her leg stretches as soon as she turned off the charm. She finished quickly, and then turned to nudge her lover back into wakefulness. He still had to go to the Great Hall for dinner, even if she didn't.

'Sev, wake up,' she said softly, running her hand over his cheek.

His eyes began to flicker open slowly, and he blinked a few times sleepily, before his eyes focused on her properly. Smiling, he reached up and pulled her head down to give her a wake up kiss. He loved that kiss; mostly because he loved to wake up to see her beautiful face.

'I don't want to go to dinner,' he said with a pout that made even Hermione feel a little bad for waking him.

'Head of Slytherin House,' she reminded him. 'You have to go up. It's a weekday and you promised Albus that you would go up on weeknights.'

'Silly old goat,' Severus grumbled under his breath.

'But you still love him anyway,' Hermione said, nuzzling her nose into his neck and kissing there softly. 'Just as much as Albus loves you.'

'But not nearly as much as I love you,' he replied, rolling over and onto her and pining her to the bed with a fierce kiss.

Hermione laughed softly into the kiss and when he pulled back she had a besotted little grin on her face. She put a hand on his chest and gave him a push to get him moving off her. She honestly couldn't wait until her legs and body was strong enough to make love to him again. It was driving her mad that she was unable to support herself in order to be able to reciprocate his sexual advances. With a sigh, she gave him a further nudge, and he smirked, kissing her playfully, teasingly on the mouth, before he jumped off the bed and ducked into the bathroom.

The next thing that she heard was the shower turning on and the water begin to beat down upon his body. She wished that she could join him. Sighing heavily, she rolled over onto her side, her back facing the bathroom door. She knew she was getting a little depressed about her injuries again. It came and went, but lately it seemed that she was becoming more so than usual. Perhaps she needed a little bit of time away from the dreary dungeons? After a few more minutes, the shower turned off, and Hermione had made her decision.

'Love, are you alright?' asked Severus as he exited the bathroom.

'I think I would like to spend the night in my room upstairs,' she said quietly, not rolling back over to look at him. She felt terrible, and knew that doubtless he would have a hurt expression on his face.

'You can floo with your wheelchair there,' he said simply, moving around the bed and sitting half-dressed in only his black trousers in front of her.

He put a hand under her chin and gently turned her face to look up at him. When she saw his face, she was surprised to see that he had an understanding smile. He leaned down and kissed her forehead, stroking her cheek with his thumb. 'I love you,' he said softly, pressing small kisses across her temple and cheeks.

'I love you too,' she said, voice thickening with tears.

'I want you to be happy, Hermione,' he said in a low voice. 'If you need some space, I will be all too happy to give it to you. Don't feel like you are tied down to these chambers now.'

'It's not that I need space,' she exclaimed in frustration. 'I just want to sleep in the bed in my own rooms.'

'I understand, my love,' he said, hugging her close to his naked chest. 'You can have some space all to yourself.'

'I want you to sleep with me there,' she said, pressing her hand against his chest. 'I don't want to be without you. I just want a different view.'

'Maybe while you are up there you could invite Potter and Miss Lovegood over for a visit also,' Severus suggested thoughtfully, stroking her back with long fingers. 'I am sure they will be pleased to see you.'

'Oh Sev,' she said, throwing her arms around his neck. 'You always know just what to say to me!'

He chuckled and lifted her up into his arms, carrying her into the sitting room and placing her in her chair. 'You go on and floo to your rooms. Take a bath and order yourself some dinner and I will bring Potter and Miss Lovegood up with me after dinner has finished in the Great Hall.'

Hermione nodded and took his hand, pressing a kiss to his palm. 'You are the best,' she said breathlessly.

He simply nodded and smiled at her, pushing her over to the fireplace and tossing some floo powder in. She rolled her chair into the fire, called out her room and rolled out in her bedroom shortly after. Even if she hadn't known it already she would have been able to tell that Severus had been in the room and fixed it all up for her wheelchair. She threw a little Floo Power into the fireplace and placed an order with the house elves, before going to the shower. She used her wand to divest herself of her clothes, and then filled the bath before levitating herself into the tub. Washing her body with a cloth, she then washed her hair with juniper berry shampoo, repeating before conditioning. Once she was completely rinsed, she drained the water from the tub and charmed herself dry. She dressed in a cotton nightie and wrapped at white dressing gown over the top.

When she came out of her bedroom, her dinner was waiting for her on the coffee table in her sitting room. She ate almost half of it before she was full and sent the tray back, all before the door to her chambers swung open, and Harry entered with Luna tucked up against his side, and Severus following. She smiled at them all brightly, pleased to see each and every one of them.

'Harry, Luna! I've missed you!' she exclaimed, holding her arms out for them.

They embraced her as one, before moving to sit together on the lounge. 'We've all missed you too Hermione,' Harry replied, wrapping his arm around Luna's shoulders tightly.

'How is everything going on the outside?' she asked curiously as Severus picked her up out of the wheelchair and sat in the large armchair, settling with her on his lap.

Harry watched this move with a raised eyebrow, only to divert his gaze back to Hermione's face when the older wizard smirked. It was obvious that what the two of them had was love. He had known love twice in his short life so far, and he thought it was wonderful that two people that had never been in love before could find love with each other. He didn't even mind that it was Snape, his former antagonist.

'How is Neville going?' Hermione finally asked.

Harry sighed. 'He's not really taking the idea of you and the Professor very well,' he answered hesitantly. 'He really loved you for the longest time, and he just can't believe that he lost his chance…'

'Neville – he never had a chance, Harry,' Hermione said softly, turning and looking up at Severus' face with a warm look. 'Even if I weren't with Severus, I could never have been with Neville.'

'Everyone knows that but Neville, love,' Severus said softly.

Harry nodded in agreement; surprised that Snape would be so openly affectionate in front of them. He liked the way that Snape treated Hermione. He knew that he was going to be the only man that could ever be her match. He smiled and then nodded at the pair across from him. He wanted to give them some time alone with the way they were looking at one another – and he could always use a little extra time alone with Luna.

'We're going to head off to our common rooms, Hermione,' Luna said before Harry could and giving the younger man a small smile. It was as though she had read his mind. 'I'll bet you are really tired.'

Luna stood and pulled Harry up with her, leaning over to peck Hermione on the cheek, before dragging her boyfriend along with her to the door. With a brief wave, the two of them were gone. Hermione looked at Severus in confusion and shrugged. He smiled widely, realizing what had just happened, and leaned in to kiss her on the lips soundly, caressing her side. Hermione responded to his kiss enthusiastically, tangling her fingers in his long, silky black hair.

'Let's go to bed, love?' he suggested, pulling away from the heated kiss. 'You're beginning to look a little tired and worse for wear.'

'I don't want to go to sleep,' Hermione said with a pout. 'I want to make love with you again. I want to kiss you and feel you Sev.'

Severus ran a hand over her hair and cupped the back of her neck, sighing. 'I want to make love with you too,' he said, continuing to stroke her hair with his free hand. 'But at the moment, your body is not at its physical best. You need to rest and feed it, and take the potions to get better.'

'I am fine,' she whined petulantly.

Severus shook his head and caught Hermione up in his arms, lifting himself off the seat and carrying her towards her bedroom. She crossed her arms and scowled, as they walked towards the room. He gently set her down on the bed, lifting the covers over her legs and moving to the other side. He pulled off his robes, frock coat, and belt. Tugging the shirt from his trousers, he loosened the top buttons and slid into the bed beside her after kicking off his shoes and socks.

'Severus?' she asked as she snuggled into him, slipping her hands beneath his shirt to rub his flat abdomen.

'Mmmhmm?' he murmured against her hair, rubbing her hip through the soft cottony fabric of her nightie.

'Promise me that as soon as I am better you won't resist making love to me?' she asked, pressing a kiss to his collarbone. 'Tell me that you're not bored with me. I hope I'm not boring you!'

'Hermione, how could you think that?' he said, pulling back and looking at her in the eyes firmly. 'I love you. I am never bored with you. I want to be with you for the rest of my life, my god's woman.'

'You want to be with me for the rest of your life?' she asked in shock.

He laughed softly. 'Of course I do, love,' he said, leaning down and kissing her on the forehead. 'I want to love you, be with you, have a life with you, watch you graduate, support your studies, and have children with you…' he said, feeling his breath catch in his throat. 'Marry me, Hermione?'

'Really?' she asked quietly, tears leaking from the corners of her eyes.

'Please marry me?' he asked again.

Hermione chuckled and hugged him close before pressing kisses all over his face. 'Yes! Merlin, yes I'll marry you!' she exclaimed, kissing his lips repeatedly.

Severus felt his heart soar out of his chest. Hermione was going to marry him. He was the luckiest man alive.

A/N - Please review me! It took me hours to write this one. It's getting harder and harder to finish this. But I can tell this is going to be one of the longest stories I have ever written -- already is! Anyways let me know if you like or not? Yes? No? Maybe?


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter Twenty-Eight

A couple of uneventful weeks flew past, and not a peep was heard from the Death Eater's since the attack in Hogsmeade. Once more, Severus was reduced to racking his brain in thought, trying to figure out himself just what they were up to. Certainly none of them would have access to anything that would help bring about the revival of the Dark Lord. The Ministry had confiscated all of those, and they now rested in the capable hands of Mad-Eye moody who had come out of retirement and had been re-appointed the Head of the Auror's Department. Growling in frustration under his breath, Severus stood from his armchair, beginning to pace in front of the fire.

Hermione had returned to her own chambers a couple of days beforehand, after having recovered her ability to walk on her own a lot faster than the first time. She had visibly brightened since the morning when she had climbed out of their bed on her own and went to use the loo, and after that, she resumed classes and started sleeping in both his room and her room on different nights. Severus didn't mind that she slept apart from her some nights. It was simply not possible to sleep together every day as he had essays to mark, and she had to do school work and spend time with her friends.

That night, he had told her to spend time with Potter and Longbottom like she used to before they came together. She had pouted, but still kissed him sweetly before heading back up to Gryffindor tower. He frowned and grabbed some Floo powder, tossing it into the fireplace and stepping into the green flames before calling out for the Headmaster's office. He walked out on the other end to find that the Headmaster was seated at his desk with his half-moon glasses perched precariously on the end of his long nose, and a quill in his hand, working away silently.

He looked up as Severus approached and smiled fondly. 'Come, come Severus and take a seat, my boy,' he said softly.

Obeying immediately, he took a seat across from the Headmaster and slumped down in it, tipping his head back and pinching the bridge of his nose. 'I just can't figure it out, Albus,' he admitted in frustration. 'I've gone over and over again in my mind what possible reason they could have for coming back and not one thing makes a single iota of sense.'

Albus nodded sadly. 'I had a feeling you would be coming to see me about something like this soon,' he said softly, gauging Severus' reactions from the look in his eyes. 'I have given it some thought myself, and the only name that comes to mind when I think of a Death Eater uprising is Ivan Yaxley.'

'Alecto and Amycus Carrow also jump to mind,' Severus muttered under his breath. 'I feel as thought they were the only ones with any intelligence to regroup the Death Eater's together again. All the rest have peanuts for brains.'

Albus tried and failed to smother a chuckle at Severus' analysis of his former comrades, earning a glare from the Potions Master that silenced him pretty smartly. 'I am sure that they will reveal their intentions all in due time,' the old wizard said wisely.

'I just dare them to touch Hermione one more time,' Severus growled, his temper flaring at the thought of yet another attack on his beloved. 'They will regret the day that they dare to cross me again.'

'I don't doubt it at all, my boy,' he said, pushing his glasses back up his nose. 'I would be trying to involve the Ministry in this a lot more than I already have allowed if I had any doubts on that account. I believe that this is a nuisance that can be dealt with by all of us and possibly the Order as well.'

'Perhaps it will be time for a meeting some time soon,' Severus said with a heavy sigh, his reluctance at involving them and having to reveal his and Hermione's relationship obvious. 'I don't want them involved unless they truly have to be, Albus. Hermione and I are under quite a lot of stress already without having to worry about the sneering and rude remarks that will undoubtedly be thrown our way.'

Albus nodded. 'I understand.'

'Now I have to thing up a way to keep Hermione safe for a while, and I can't even guarantee any of this while there are potential miniature Death Eater's running about in the castle,' he exclaimed grouchily. 'I think it is time we moved her to a safer location, just for the time-being so that everyone can be sure that she will come to no further harm. I know she won't like it and will most probably protest, but I'm sure she will come around and see the positive side eventually.'

Albus sighed, knowing that Severus would be suggesting something like that. He believed that it was also something they should consider, but unlike the Potions Master, he held no optimism about Hermione coming to conform to any such thing. She would fight it the entire way there, and argue and likely hex him for suggesting it. Hiding a smile beneath his beard, and shook his head.

'Keeping her locked-up somewhere secluded is not going to please her. She is better off staying here where there are people around her,' Albus said seriously. 'Hogsmeade visits, however, will be off, and any time that she goes beyond the walls of the castle she will be supervised. Now I think that will have to do for now.'

'Very well, Albus, I will agree with that,' Severus said quietly. 'But if she is harmed even the slightest bit once more, I am taking her away from this godforsaken castle.'

'Agreed,' Albus said, shaking the younger man's hand firmly. 'And now that we have decided that, I suppose you will take your leave?'

Severus nodded and stood from his chair, nodding politely before Flooing back to his own chambers. Once in his sitting room once more, he went to the small kitchenette that was a part of the rooms and made a cup of tea. He needed to do something with himself to push out the nerves and worry for the night. He sat down in front of the fire and stared at the red-orange flames until they burned out a couple of hours later, before going to his bedroom and stripping out of his daily attire, taking a quick shower, and then dressing in sleeping pants for bed.

He stretched out onto the mattress, feeling a little at a loss as his side dipped the tiniest bit from his weight, while the other side remained the same. He was simply far too used to Hermione sharing the bed with him. He closed his eyes, willing his mind to find some rest. When he rolled over onto his side for he millionth time that night, he looked at the clock on his nightstand, a sliver of moonlight illuminating it so that he could read that it was five minutes past midnight. Groaning, his head pounding from a tension headache, he crawled out of the bed, tossing on his black silk dressing gown, and walking back into the sitting room.

He lit and stoked the fire once more, tossing some more Floo powder in and walking into green flames for the second time that night. He called out for Hermione's private rooms and arrived in her Common room. Making the trip up the staircase to her bedroom, he entered her bedroom silently, and on seeing her curled-up on the bed sleeping, he smiled and shed his robe before slipping under the covers behind her, and spooning up behind her. Hermione jerked in her sleep when he closed one of his hands around her breast and gave a light squeeze, and soon rolled over awake to look at him.

'What are you doing in here?' she asked; voice a little husky from sleep.

'I was having a hard time getting to sleep alone,' he admitted sheepishly drawing her close to him and kissing her forehead. 'I've got a bit of a headache now, so let's just go back to sleep, shall we?'

'Oh!" she exclaimed, pulling back out of his arms and turning over to the nightstand over her side of the bed. She opened the drawer and took out a vile from it, before turning back to Severus and handing it to him. 'I had some headache Potions in there from a couple of nights ago'

Severus accepted it gratefully and drank it down, setting aside the empty vile on the nightstand over his side before snuggling back against her. 'Why did you need headache Potions a couple of nights ago?' he questioned curiously.

Hermione smiled her cheeks warm with embarrassment. 'I had a tiny relapse on my first night alone in here and I lost my balance and fell over,' she admitted. 'I bumped my head on the coffee table down in my common room and got a bit of a bruise on the back of my head beneath my hair. I went to see Madam Pomfrey so that I didn't have to disturb you when you were busy.'

Severus frowned then. 'Hermione, you know very well that you would not cause me any inconvenience just to come for a headache Potion,' he reminded her, kissing her forehead tenderly.

'I know, but I just wanted to try and slip back into student mode and go to the infirmary like anyone else would have. I know that there will be times when you really will be too busy for me to bother you with trivialities,' she pressed, twining her fingers in his silky black hair and inhaling his scent sharply.

'I had an epiphany tonight, with Albus in his office,' he admitted, covering his mouth as he yawned a little.

'What was it about?' Hermione asked, stretching against him and pressing her front to his in a decidedly deliberate manner.

'About the Death Eater problem that we've been having,' Severus replies reluctantly, but knowing he had little other choice, he did anyway. 'I feel that I may have come up with the names of the leader's of this entire charade. Although I have not heard them or even had very direct contact with them, I believe that Ivan Yaxley might be the leader, and that the Carrow twins are his two immediate hands.'

Hermione frowned momentarily and then sighed in resignation. 'Oh you might be right about that,' she said softly. 'I know that there is at least one woman, and I know it's not Lestrange, because I don't recognize her voice. And the leader did seem to be rather familiar in an almost scary way, so Yaxley is a likely option.'

'Yes well, hopefully we won't have to worry about him for a while longer at the very least,' Severus said, yawning again longer this time, not quite able to keep it in.

'Get some sleep, love,' Hermione told him, gently brushing her nose against his. 'You look so tired, and you will undoubtedly be grouchy in class tomorrow if you don't.'

'I'll be damned grouchy in class tomorrow anyway,' he mused softly, his voice wavering as his mind began to drift anyway.

Hermione laughed softly, stroking his hair and the back of his neck as he drifted further into sleep. She loved to see him all relaxed and sleepy like that. The lines on his face melted away and with it, his age and all of those years of spying he did. She loved to be the only one to see him this way. She liked to pleasure him and cause him to smile like she was the only one who had ever managed to make him smile. She loved to remind him constantly that she was in love with him. Because in the end, the only thing that mattered was that they loved each other.

This was why she was not afraid of the danger that loomed ahead. Severus was strong, and so was she, and together they most certainly could deal with a couple of renegades who thought that they could try and seek revenge on a man for choosing the light over falling further into the darkness. She needed to be strong for Severus, because for as powerful a wizard as he was, he was one of the most emotionally fragile men she had ever had the good fortune to meet. She knew that once they had gotten past this bump in the road, everything in their lives would fall into place.

This was why Hermione so looked forward to her Graduation. No longer did she care all that much about her N.E.W.T's. She had discovered during the war that even the best made plans sometimes had a way of falling apart. She was planning on going with the flow and seeing what would turn up as a reward for her patience. She didn't know if the Death Eater's would attack before, after or even during her graduation, but she knew for sure that they would eventually strike out. And when that time came, she knew in her heart that everything would be the way it was predestined to be.

Sighing, Hermione closed her eyes and let her mind be lulled to sleep by the sound of Severus' deep, even breathing, and the feeling of his heart beating against her palm which she had pressed to his chest. They slept together like that nearly the entire night, but in the morning, Severus woke to find himself on his back, with Hermione sprawled all over the top of him, snoring softly. He blew a lock of her curly hair out of his face as it was tickling his nose, and looked down to see that he head was resting comfortably in the crook of his shoulder.

'Love, wake up,' Severus told her, wriggling his shoulder a bit. He needed to get up so he could go for a shower and change into his clothes and robes for the day.

Hermione mumbled in her sleep, and nuzzled her nose against his neck in her sleep, which made him chuckle lightly. Decidedly, he slipped out from under her, careful not to wake her, and got off the bed. He saw that it was only six. Breakfast in the Great Hall was not until 7:30, so he set an alarm charm for her to wake her in about half an hour, and slipped from her bedroom, threw on his robe, walked down to the fireplace in the common room, and Flooed back to his chambers. He showered quickly and got dressed, before heading to his classroom to put up the lesson plans on the board before his first class.

He did so love to be organized early.

After that, he went to his office and graded papers until it was ten minutes until breakfast would begin. He walked up the dungeon stairs and entered the Great Hall through the staff door, taking his seat at Albus' left as usual, and greeting the Headmaster with a polite, yet staid nod. He did not communicate well in the morning until after his first cup of coffee. All of the other staff had quite gotten used to this and avoided talking to the man until they were all sure he had consumed at least one cup. Soon after, the students began to make their way into the hall, all rather bleary-eyed and bushy-tailed. When Hermione walked in with Harry, Luna and Neville, she flashed a special smile up at him and winked.

Severus smiled back at her for a brief moment only. After all, the Potions Master could not afford to be seen smiling in front of the students. It would have diminished his reputation as a first class bastard.

A/N - I know it has been months but here is an update. This story should not take too much longer to finish I hope. No promises about anything though. Please leave a review! xo.


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